Will it Work?
by Meghannna
Summary: Jess's dad never came to Stars Hollow and he never went to California. But, Rory did break up with him after what happened at Kyle's party. Read, review, enjoy!
1. Reality

**AN: OK, this is my second fanfic and I'm writing another one along with this one, but that one will be ending very soon. If you haven't read my other one, you should. It's called _Only You. _I really hope that you like this story, the idea came from a dream I had last night, yeah I have weird dreams. So read, review and tell me what you think. This AN is starting to get long and I doubt anyone is reading it anyways. ENJOY! **

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gilmore Girls

When I woke up this morning, I knew that I was going to have a horrible day. After all of the crap that happened between me and Jess, I didn't want to deal with anything. But, I still had school and I have the need to eat, meaning that I would eventually have to go into Luke's and most likely get served by my ex-boyfriend. It would probably be easier to just get it over with and deal with the reality that I'd have to see him, but I wasn't sure if that was possible just yet. My mom would probably do her best to keep me away from the diner too, at least until she thought I'd be ready, but there is no way that I can stay away from Luke's forever, so why even try?

I laid in bed for what seemed like hours after my alarm clock went off. Did I have a right to wallow? I'm the one that dumped _him_, so is it fair that I wallow? I was still contemplating that when my mom slowly opened my door. "Honey, it's time to get up. I got some breakfast out here waiting for you, and then I can bring you to school if you want," she told me, watching me closely.

"OK Mom. I took a shower last night, so I just have to get dressed. I'll be out in a minute," I replied, trying to sound somewhat cheerful.

"Alright, Hon." When she left my room, I decided that it was better to get dressed as quick as possible so that I didn't worry her. I got out my uniform and got dressed. When I looked in the mirror, I saw that my hair needed to be brushed really badly, so I brushed my hair. When I opened up my jewelery box to get out a necklace, I saw a concert ticket, the Distillers, and shut it as quick as I had opened it and decided that I didn't need a necklace for today. I looked into the mirror one last time and noticed a tear running down my cheek, I hadn't even realized that I cried, so I wiped away the tear and put on my best happy face as walked out of my bedroom and into the kitchen.

"Did you stop by Luke's again this morning?" I asked as I sat down in front of a plate filled with eggs and pancakes.

"Well, I sure wasn't going to cook," she told me before she stuffed her mouth with her own eggs.

"Never," I joked aloud. "Did you see him? How was he?"

"No, Honey. I didn't see him. Luke told me that he was flunking out though, he's taking the year over."

"So he lied to me. At least I'm rid of him. I don't have to deal with him anymore. We're going to Europe for the summer, and then I'm going to Yale. And I'm so busy with school and finals right now, I may never see him again."

"Well, that's highly unlikely, but I'll do my best to grant you that."

"Thanks Mom. So, onto a lighter subject. How are things with you, Mom?"

"Well, Sweets, things are doing OK. I think that I'm finally going to start exercising."

"Right, I see that happening. Why the sudden urge to join a gym?"

"I don't know. Something new to do." I nodded and smiled at her and took a quick look at the clock.

"Mom, I have to go catch the bus. Thanks for the offer of a ride, but I know that you have things to do and were just trying to be nice. But I'm really fine. I'll get over it and move on, like I always have. Bye Mom," i said as I stood up and kissed her on the cheek.

"Bye Rory," I heard her call out as I left the house.

When I walked outside, I saw Lane standing in my driveway, holding two cups of coffee. "Hey Lane. Come to walk me to the bus stop?"

"Of course. I wanted to make sure that you were good and tell you some good news. Let's go," Lane started walking and I followed her all the way into town. She was talking about prom, the prom that I never got to go to because my boyfriend, _ex-_boyfriend, failed his senior year and couldn't buy tickets. I had already seen Lane's pictures and they looked like her and Dave had a great time.

When we got to my bus stop, we sat down on the one bench and she was still talking about prom. I tried not to look into Luke's, because I knew what I would see, but of course I caved and found his eyes looking at me though the window. "So, Jess is failing and he has to take next year over," I told Lane, who was in the middle of a sentence.

"No way. That totally sucks for him. I can't believe...," she trailed off and followed my line of vision that was still directed towards Jess. "Rory, you can't torture both him and you by staring. That won't make it any easier to get over. I know that you broke up with him because of the thing at Kyle's party, but telling yourself that you've moved past him, doesn't mean that you have."

"Yeah, I know Lane. I'm trying, OK. I'm not as fine as I'm telling everybody that I am. I'm upset, I'm a tad bit heartbroken and I'm not over it," I told her, finally breaking my gaze and looking at her. "The bus is here. I got to go. Meet me hare after school, OK?"

"OK, I'll be here. I might be a little late, because I'm cleaning out my locker after school, but I'll be here as soon as possible." I smiled and walked onto the bus as I watched Lane walk to school. The bus ride seemed fast, I studied and listened to music, so I was distracted. When it came to my stop, I noticed Paris sitting in her BMW waiting. I walked up to her car and knocked on the window.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her when she rolled down the window.

"I was wondering if you wanted a ride. I was trying to be nice, don't get used to it," she told me. I laughed as I walked around to the passenger's side and got in.

"Why are you doing this? I appreciate it and all, but I'm just curious."

"I'm trying to make you feel better. I know about you and Rebel Without a Cause, so I figured that you might not be up for walking."

"I don't want to talk about that. That's all that anybody wants to talk about. They want to make sure that I'm fine, but they keep reminding me of the fact that I broke up with Jess, that I no longer have a boyfriend. Let's talk about something else. Anything else. How about college, have you decided where you're going to go yet?"

"Fine, we'll do it your way," she told me as she started to drive away from the bus stop and towards Chilton. "No, I haven't decided yet. It's between Yale and Princeton. "

"I, myself am going to Yale, so you have two great schools picked out."

"You decided on Yale? But your whole life, all you've ever wanted was to go to Harvard. You got into Harvard, and you're decision is Yale. That makes no sense to me."

"It doesn't have to make sense to you. I want to stay closer to home, and besides, Yale won out on the pro/con lists."

"The pro/con lists made your decision. That's sad." Just as Paris finished her sentence, we were pulling into a parking space in the Chilton parking lot.

"That's the Gilmore way," I told her as she shut her car off. We got out of the car and were greeted by Madeline and Louise. "Hi."

"Hey you two," Madeline said, overly cheery as usual. "This is our last full day of high school. This is very exciting."

"Yes, it is," I said sarcastically, but no one caught the sarcasm. "We should get going." We all started walking towards the school when I realized that I was, in fact, done with high school after today. All that I had left to do before going to Europe was graduation. Graduation where I would be valedictorian. I found out yesterday, but I didn't tell anybody yet. Obviously everyone at school knows, but I haven't told Lane or my grandparents or even my mom. Being valedictorian just adds to all of the other crap that I have to deal with. I'm happy that I got it, and I'm not going to lie, I'm proud of myself, but I already have so much to do. I have to study, I have to finish finals today and then I have to finish planning and packing for Europe. I was snapped out of my train of though when Paris elbowed me in the ribs.

"Rory, we need to get to class so that we can leave," she told me. I nodded at her and followed her into our first class of the day. We sat down for two hours and took a test. The test wasn't nearly as hard as I though it would be. I was focused and I was prepared, it was a lot better than I expected.

When I was finished Paris and I decided to walk to our next and final class of our Senior year. Since we had finals, we only had two classes and we got out of school early. When I walked into the next class and sat next to Paris, I started getting antsy. Two more hours and then I could take the bus back to Stars Hollow and go home and rest. I had to finish m valedictorian speech, but I had another day to do that, all I really needed to do was read through it and make any necessary changes.

I finished my second final and left Chilton without looking back. Sure, I'd be back on Saturday, but it just felt right to walk away from it. I walked all the way to my bus stop with a weird smile erupting across my face. Even though I knew this day would be horrible, it wasn't so bad just yet. That thought made me crazy, because it just meant that I was waiting for something to turn it around. The whole way to Stars Hollow, I wondered what could possibly happen to make my day so shitty. That's when I saw it.

"Oh my god," I said out loud, not thinking.

"What?" The person next to me asked. I looked over to see a women, a little bit older than me.

"Oh, sorry. I was talking to myself. I'm not crazy or anything, my day just got really bad. This is my stop," I told her, feeling strange talking to this lady I didn't even know.

"Oh, so you want to get off. OK."

"I don't want to get off. I just have to. Thanks for listening to my craziness," I said as I walked past her and off of the bus. "What the hell are you doing here?" I asked Jess who was sitting on the bench with a cupcake.

"I am eating, and I am enjoying it," he told me and I really wanted to slap him, but I would never do that, despite how badly I wanted to.

"Why are you eating it here? Can't you eat it somewhere else, where you know I'm not. You know I'm at this bus stop and you know that I get home early today because of finals; and yet here you are, eating a damn cupcake on the bench where I should be sitting _alone _waiting for Lane _alone_. And who the hell would give you a damn cupcake?"

"It's a Hostess cupcake. I got it from the market," he said as if I wasn't yelling at him and my face wasn't bright red with anger.

"Oh, you _stole _it from the market," I said, finally sitting down on the other end of the bench.

"Hey, I do not steal... anymore. I may be a liar, an asshole, and a failure, but I do not steal. OK?"

"Jess, why are you here? Why are you doing this to me? I broke up with you, I have done a good job these past three days avoiding you and you've avoided me. So, why are you at my bus stop? Why are you making me crazy?" I asked him. I was more calm than before, but if he said the wrong thing I would probably go off into another round of screaming.

"Rory, I'm not doing anything. I just came to keep you company," he told me, and I admit, it made me feel good, but I still wanted to slap him.

"Jess, I can't deal with your company right now. I need Lane or my mom or hell, anybody but you right now," I told him, my voice becoming shaky. He obviously didn't know what to say and I know that he hates when people cry, so I tried not to. He reached out to touch my hand but I pulled it back. "Jess. Please." He took his hand back and sat silent for a minute. I looked at him through my now teary eyes and noticed that he was looking at my tear stained face. He nodded, knowing that he could do nothing without me biting his head off and left me alone. Of course he didn't leave me completely alone, because Lane was standing in front of us by the time he actually stood up.

"Bye Rory," he said. His voice was cold and I had done that to him, but I couldn't change what either of us had done. Lane sat in his newly vacated seat and we both watched him walk away angrily into the diner. He turned to look at me once before stepping inside and into the apartment and I shook my head at him, as if telling myself that I had nothing to worry about. He was out of my life.


	2. Graduation Day

**AN: Thanks for the reviews. I'm glad that people are liking this story. I hope that you like this chapter as well.**

**Read, Review, Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls**

Out of my life? Ha, Jess would never be out of my life, at least not anytime soon. He would try as hard as he could to get back in my life. He made that clear when he showed up at my graduation. That's right, I was standing in front of hundreds of people, and of course my eyes lock with the one person that isn't supposed to be there. He's in the back, leaning against a tree. I froze when I saw him, but only for a second, I locked eyes with my mother instead, so that they wouldn't wander his way again. My valedictorian speech went smooth, besides that one moment. After I, and the rest of my class, received our diplomas, I met my mom and my grandparents near the parking lot.

"Rory, your speech was amazing," my grandfather greeted me and I gave him a hug. I had meant everything that I said in that speech. "It was very sweet."

"Well, Grandpa, it was very true. Thank you," I told him. I was so happy, I couldn't stop smiling, even though I knew he was lurking somewhere near me, I could feel his eyes on me.

"Well, we appreciate it greatly, Rory," my grandmother told me, and then I hugged her. "We would like to present you with our graduation gift to you."

"You guys really didn't have to. You've done so much already," I told them, leaning against my mother's side.

"Really, Mom, Dad it is a very sweet gesture," she said to them with a smile.

"I just hope that you like it," Grandpa said to me. At first I had doubts that I would actually like it, but then I saw the keys.

"Guys, what did you get me?" I asked, watching the keys.

"Well, we thought that a car would be an appropriate gift. Now if only I could find it," Grandpa said, looking at a parking lot full of cars.

"You guys that is amazing. Thank you so much," I gave them both huge hugs and looked at my mother, amazed.

"You're welcome Rory. It was our pleasure, but we really should be going. We'll leave you with the keys and you need to leave us with a promise," Grandpa requested.

"Grandma, Grandpa, I promise you _anything. _What do you want me to promise? Whatever it is, you got it," I told them, my voice starting to sound anxious.

"Well, Rory, we want the promise that you will take care of it and get the proper insurance to keep both you and the car safe. Buy good gas also," Grandma told me and I had to smile. I gave them both one more hug and then they left.

"OK, Hon, we need to go find Luke before he leaves," my mom said and I smiled up at her. We turned around and I immediately found Luke. He was smiling at me and I could feel myself smile brighter than I had already been smiling.

He walked up to me and my mom and I let go of her and hugged him. He hugged me back, and of course it was an awkward hug, Luke doesn't like to hug. I pulled away still smiling and Luke's face showed so much emotion. Just by looking at him you could tell that he was proud of me and that he was sorry for the whole Jess situation, he kept telling me and my mother that he felt responsible. He had no reason to feel responsible, it wasn't his fault.

"Thanks for coming Luke. It means a lot to me," I told him.

He smiled at me and then at my mother. "I had fun. Your speech was great," he told me.

"Yeah, so great that stone cold Luke was blubbering," my mother told me and I wanted to laugh, but then I saw Luke's face and saw that she wasn't kidding.

"I will never live this down," he said and I shot him a sympathetic smile and then I saw him.

"Mom, Luke, I'll be right back. I have to go talk to a friend," I told them and they nodded at me. I smiled before I walked out of their line of vision and to his side. I took him by his sleeve and pulled him into the school.

I stood in the hallway staring at him, waiting for an explanation, but he wasn't talking. If he wasn't going to talk, I was. "Jesus Jess, go home. Leave me alone, you're not supposed to be here. You're supposed to be in Stars Hollow, not annoying the crap out of me and crashing my graduation," I told him, I was starting to shake. Why did he have that effect on me?

"I wanted to see you graduate. If one of us were going to graduate, I had to see it," he said to me like it were a joke that he wasn't graduating.

"Jess, it's _your _fault that you're not graduating. It's also _your _fault that you are single and not with me anymore."

"I didn't break up with you Rory, you broke up with me."

"You caused me to break up with you. Damn it Jess, you lied to me. You lied about school and about work and you didn't take me to the prom. You're failing high school and you never told me anything about it. That makes me feel like shit, like I was a bad girlfriend because you couldn't talk to me. Then I look at you, and I know that I wasn't the one who ruined this relationship. Jess, you broke my trust, and damn it you broke my heart," I'm yelling again. I need to be able to control my anger when I'm around him, because I'm just making a scene. He knew it too, so he pulled me into a nearby classroom. "Let go of me, Jess!" I yelled as I shook his hand off of my shoulder.

"Rory, calm down. I know that you're mad and I know that you're upset. I wasn't trying to say that you had no reason to dump me, Rory. I know that you had every reason," he told me. I could tell that he was getting frustrated and that he wanted to yell. He knew that would just piss me off even more.

"Good, Jess. I'm glad that you know why I broke up with you. Maybe now you'll leave me alone," I say to him and I start to reach for the door, but he grabbed my wrist. I turned to look at him.

"You don't want that, Rory. You don't want me to leave you alone. I know that because I know you. I know you more than anybody, except maybe your mom."

"Who, by the way, is probably looking for me, so I have to go. Maybe I'll see you when I get back from Europe." He nodded and finally let go of my wrist. He looked shocked when I left the room without another word. One part of me wanted so badly to hug him and to tell him that I was sorry, but another part, apparently the stronger part, thought that I had nothing to be sorry for, so I left him there and immediately found my mother.

"What were you doing in there?" She asked. I looked back at the door I had just left and started walking with her.

"Oh, I thought that I left something in there earlier. I was wrong, I had it with me all along," I said as I pulled my cell phone out, to show her.

"Oh, OK. Well, we should be getting home. Sookie and Jackson are waiting for us there. We _may_ have planned a small gathering," she told me with an evil smile.

"Mom, you threw me a party? That's awesome."

"Well, the party is for the both of us. We're leaving tomorrow, _remember_? But, Sookie did make you a tassel hat cake, like she did for me when I graduated." At that moment, I had a feeling that I would be OK. I mean, yeah, I was having really bad boy problems, but I was leaving them behind for two months so that I could walk around Europe with the most important person in my life.

I knew that Jess would never show up at the party, because let's face it, he hates everybody who would be there. Luke wasn't even going, because he was going away for a week with Nicole. They had wanted to go on a cruise for a couple of months, but Luke was afraid of leaving Jess alone for that long. Yeah, Jess was eighteen and could take care of himself, but it's Jess, and Luke, along with everybody else, doesn't trust him.

So, when I got to the party, I was amazed that so many people could fit into my house. They were spread from the porch to the kitchen, and for all I knew, they would be upstairs. "_Small _gathering?" I asked my mom when we walked into our house.

"I may have under-exaggerated a bit. But, doesn't it look like it will be fun? Everybody is here. Lane, Sookie, Miss Patty, Babette, Morey, and the rest of the town. I think we needed this before we head out tomorrow, don't you?" She asked.

I looked around the house and I could feel the smile on my face grow. "Yeah, this is definitely needed. Hopefully it will work out better than the last party that I attended," I said jokingly, but meant it completely.

"Well, Jess isn't here, but I do think Dean and Lindsay are. I had Lane invite them, is that OK?"

"Yeah, of course it is. Dean is my friend and Lindsay is his girlfriend-" I was cut off by someone behind me.

"Fiancé, actually," it was Dean behind me. I was stunned, I didn't want to turn around, but I knew that would be rude, so I did. I turned around to meet a joyous Dean, no Lindsay in sight.

"Wow, congratulations. I should go mingle. You two talk. Bye," Mom said before leaving me with my engaged ex-boyfriend.

"So, congratulations," I told him, still noticeably shocked.

"Thanks. We're really happy," he told me, trying to deny the uncomfortable vibe that I was sending out. I gave him a somewhat sincere smile. Just because I wasn't happy, doesn't mean that he shouldn't be.

"Well, even though I think you're really young for this, I'm glad that you're happy."

"Yeah, we are young, but it's the right thing for us. I can tell that it will work out."

"Well, congratulations. I'll see you later, OK? I should go find Lane. Bye Dean."

"Bye Rory." I gave him one last smile and walked away rubbing my face. Dean was engaged. Dean was _engaged_. It was crazy to say the least, but there was nothing I could do about it. Dean was getting married and I had to deal with it. I had no right to complain about it though, Dean left me because I fell out of love with him. He left me because he knew that my heart was with Jess. So, I had no right to ever complain about anything having to do with Dean's relationships. He was my friend and I had to respect his decision. Even if it was a bad one.

I saw Lane across the room talking to Dave, so I walked up to them. "Hey guys," I said as I approached them.

"Hey Rory. How was the graduation?" Lane asked me and I wanted to tell her everything that had happened with Jess, but I couldn't do it at the party, or with Dave standing right there.

"It was eventful. I'll explain later," I told her and I could see her trying to figure out what I might have to tell her. "How was your's?"

"Probably not as eventful as yours. I'm just glad that I'm done with high school," she told me and I nodded in agreement.

"So, Dave, when do you leave for California?" I asked. California, that's where Dave was going to college. Lane was heartbroken.

"Next month. I have to get settled in, and I'm not living in a dorm, so I have to get my apartment set up. I'm going to miss Connecticut though," he told me as he put his arm around Lane's shoulders.

"I bet you are," I said with a sympathetic smile.

"Are you excited for Europe?" Lane asked me, trying to get the attention off of her.

"Yeah, of course. I'm going to miss so many people, but it's Europe. I can't pass this opportunity up. I'll be back before I start school, so it'll be relaxing," I told them, and I knew that it was true. I needed to get away from Stars Hollow for those two months, I needed to live another part of my life.

"It will be a great vacation for you. I know that you'll love it, you were born to backpack across Europe," Lane said to me and I had to smile at her. I gave her a hug.

"I should mingle some more, but don't leave before I get to talk to you again. I have to explain the events of my graduation in greater detail," I told her and she smiled at me. "Bye Dave. Have fun in California."

"I will. Have fun in Europe and at Yale," he said to me. I smiled at him and told him that I would.

When I left Lane and Dave I decided to find my mom. I walked into the kitchen and I found Sookie and Jackson instead. "Hi honey," Sookie said to me as she took something out of our oven. "Great speech. You got us all crying. It was perfect. Congratulations," she told me and she gave me a heartwarming hug.

"Thank you. That means so much to me," I said to her as I pulled away from her hug. "Do you know where my mom is? I lost her a little while ago."

"No, I'm sorry. You go look for her while we finish with the food. It should be ready in a little while."

"Thanks Sookie. It looks great. Great vegetables, Jackson."

"Thank you, Rory," he said with a goofy smile.

"I'm gonna go look around. Bye guys," I said before I turned out of the kitchen. I walked upstairs to her bedroom to see if she was there. She was packing. My mother was packing, that was a surprise. "What are you doing up here? The party's downstairs."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just getting nervous about leaving for two months, so I want to make sure that I have everything. Oh, did you see that we got the Dragonfly?"

"Yeah, I saw the paper during graduation. That's awesome, Mom. Now, when when we get back, you'll have something to do to keep you busy. You and Sookie must be so excited," I told her and I could tell that she was.

"Honey, I'm going to have my own inn. This is the second best day of my life. My first being the day that you were born, but today, with the graduation and the inn and the fact that we're leaving for _Europe _tomorrow, is definitely running a close second."

"Glad to hear it. Sookie said that the food should be ready in a little while."

"OK, then we should be getting down there. I'm starving." We walked downstairs together and were greeted by cheering and clapping. I looked at all the smiling faces that were at my house to say goodbye before we left, and I felt so happy and so loved. It was a good feeling.


	3. A Walk

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls**

I was laying in bed, it had to have been at least one in the morning. I was just thinking about leaving for Europe and nerves were getting the best of me. I couldn't sleep. I went to bed once the party ended, at around ten, and I couldn't even close my eyes. I knew that my mother was asleep though, she was asleep on the couch before the party had even ended. I sat up in bed and looked around my room, looking for something to do. I thought about reading a book, but I wasn't in the mood for that tonight. I looked out my window and I could see the moon. It was huge, a full moon.

I got out of bed and put on a sweater and flip flops before walking outside through the back door. I originally planned on sitting down and looking at the sky, but I felt the urge to take a walk. I had no particular destination in mind, I just wanted one more walk around town before I had to leave. I walked by Lane's house, by Dean's house, by Sookie and Jackson's house. I walked around the whole town until I reached the bridge. It was such a quiet place, a really good place to sit and think, so that's what I did.

I sat and thought about everything going on in my life. I thought about what my future may hold. Yale was so close, Europe was even closer. My life was changing, and I didn't know how to feel about it. I glanced down at my watch, I hadn't been home for almost an hour. I took one more look around and breathed it in. I walked back down the bridge, towards the town square. Underneath a streetlight, sitting on a bench I saw Jess. I sighed to myself. What was he doing out here at two o'clock in the morning. He was sitting with his back turned to me, but I knew that it was him.

I took a deep breath and walked behind him. He didn't hear me, so I walked around the bench and sat next to him. I don't know why I did it, but I did. I felt like I had to. "Hi," I said to him and he looked at me, face full of surprise, but quickly turned back to it's regular emotionless form.

"She's civil," he said to me. I nodded at him and had the urge to just stand up and walk home, but I fought it.

"Yeah, and if you want it to continue, don't be a jackass." He laughed a little at this. "What are you doing out here anyways? It's really late."

"I had to think, and I couldn't do it with Luke's snoring," he explained. I wanted to laugh because I remembered that my mom told me he snored.

"Well, if I thought that I would see you tonight, I thought it would have been at the bridge, not in the square."

"You went to the bridge? Why?"

"Yeah, I went. I like it there. I needed to think and I had been walking around for half an hour, so I thought sitting and thinking there was a more promising idea."

"That makes sense, I guess. Why couldn't you think at home?"

"I couldn't sleep and then I saw the moon. It's so big and bright, I wanted to get a closer look, so I decided to go outside and take a walk. My mom fell asleep hours ago and I needed to do _something_, you know? If I couldn't talk to her, I had to walk, think, breathe. I needed to get out of the house." He nodded and I relaxed. I slumped down on the bench and watched him while he looked at the sky. He was such a good looking kid, and so smart, but so stupid at the same time. He made me do stupid things too. Hell, I missed my mother's graduation so that I could skip school and go to New York to see him. That is something that I would never do, but when it came to Jess Mariano, it was. He looked over at me looking at him.

"What's up?" He nodded his head towards my contemplative face.

"I was just thinking about some stuff. My thoughts get the best of me sometimes," I admitted to him.

"What exactly were you thinking about?" He asked. I knew that he could tell that whatever I was thinking about had to do with him.

"New York City," I stated, being cryptic.

"New York City in general? Or a specific thing having to do with New York City?" He asked with that stupid smirk that made me melt.

"You know what I was thinking about Jess, so why even ask?"

"Because I want you to admit it. I want you to admit that you were thinking about something involving me, and it didn't make you throw up."

"Fine. I was thinking about the time that I skipped school, missed my best friend's graduation, and went to New York to see you while I was dating another guy. And no, I didn't throw up. I was just thinking of the stupid things I do when it comes to you."

"Well, Rory, sometimes it's not a bad thing to be stupid. You know that you don't regret anything that happened when you were with me. Well, _you_ may not know, but I have a pretty good idea that you don't."

"Jess, when I'm with you I become somebody else. Lately all that I've been able to do is yell at you, and I have never been a person who likes to yell. You just make me so mad and annoy me to no end and you think that I'll take you back. But what if I don't want you back, Jess? What if I want you out of my life?"

"You're mad at me, I know that. And I also know that I've been annoying you, but I honestly don't know if you want me back or if you want me out of your life. I can't tell with you. And I'm sorry for all the things I did that made you break up with me, I am. But I _cannot_ take them back, Rory. I don't have that power. I also don't have the power to change who I am completely. I tried to be a good person for you, Rory, but apparently I'm not."

"I don't think I've ever heard so much come out of your mouth at one time," I told him and he shrugged. "And it's not that you're a _bad _person, Jess. You just don't know how take care of a relationship." I looked at my watch and sighed. "I have to go home. I need to get some sleep before I leave."

"Europe. I'll walk with you if you want," he told me and sleep must have taken over.

"To Europe?" I asked.

"No, Rory. To your house. If you want me to."

"Fine. I've walked alone enough tonight. Come on," I said as I stood up. He stood up next to me and we started walking. We walked to my house in silence and I couldn't tell if it were our normal, comfortable silence. We were walking so close, but not close enough to touch and I think that made me feel better, like I was starting to control myself around him.

We were getting closer to my house when I broke the silence. "You snore too, you know," I told him. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I don't," he retorted.

"Yes, you do Jess."

"Well, if I do, how do you know? I've never fallen asleep near you, not once."

"No, but the night of the fire, when my mom stayed with you and Luke, she told me. She said that you two snored so loud that it kept her up all night," I explained as we walked up my front yard.

"Huh. Well, at least I know."

"At least you know," I repeated. "I should probably get inside. Sleep."

"Sleep, it's a good concept," he told me with a smirk. I nodded and reached for the door. "I'll see you in a couple of months, I guess."

"It seems inevitable," I told him. I let go of the door knob and looked at him. He was looking at me, and we were just standing, the only light from the moon, staring at each other, trying to read each other's mind. I wish I could have understood my own mind when I leaned in and kissed him softly. So much for controlling myself when I was around him.

"And that was for-?" He asked when I pulled away. A smirk playing on his face again.

"Just something for me to remember when I'm in Europe, away from you and the rest of this country for two months."

"Huh," he said before he pulled me into his body and kissed me passionately. I didn't want to at first, but I gave into him and his kiss and kissed him back.

It took me a few seconds, but I came to my senses and pulled away. "Oh Jess, the power you have over me. Have fun this summer. And if you hook up with any girls, do better than Shane. See you in couple of months, Jess," I told him as I reached for my door knob again. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me to face him again.

"See, isn't it fun to do something stupid once in awhile?" He asked. I looked him in the eyes and shrugged. "Well, how do you feel about not seeing me for two months?"

"Relieved. I need time to think, Jess. Like I said, if you hook up with anyone, do better this summer than you did last."

"Don't worry, I don't see any Shane's this summer," he said to me with confidence. "Bye Rory."

"Bye Jess," I said and successfully opened my door. I took one last look at him and sighed before walking into my house, leaving him behind for two months. I walked past my mother's sleeping form and into my bedroom. Reality struck when I thought of the kiss he gave me. Why did he have that power over me? The power that can make me forget all of the shit that he did to me. Why do I care about him so much when he doesn't deserve it? How can he make me so uncertain of myself?

Uh, Jess Mariano was one of the few people that made me doubt myself and my feelings. I thought that I was successfully moving on, obviously not. I thought that I wouldn't have to see him after I broke up with him, completely wrong. Jess Mariano was weaseling his way into my heart again, and I didn't want that, at least not now. The thought of two months without him, did make me relieved. I definitely wouldn't have to deal with him and the way that he made me feel until I got home. But, when I got home, I would have to deal with getting ready to go to Yale and spend time with my mom and Lane, Jess would probably be low on my list. I laid down in bed replaying everything that had happened the last few days in my head.

My life was in a really good place, minus my boy problems, and I could not wait for two months in foreign countries with my best friend. All my dreams were starting to become reality, other than the fact that Harvard turned into Yale. It made me feel confident that I would end up OK, that I would be who I wanted to be. I can't even deny the smile that erupted on my face thinking about it all.

My thoughts then came tumbling onto a certain dark haired boy once again. For once, I wished that the dark haired boy was Dean, but no, it was Jess. I basically told him to hook up with some girl this summer, but I didn't want that. I think that I just said that to try to convince him that I wouldn't care. He knew that I would care, I knew that I would care, of course I would care. Damn it Jess!

I was wondering to myself if I was ever in love with him. If I were, I never told him. I did tell him that he broke my heart, and he did, but does that mean that I loved him, or worse _love _him. After thinking about it a little bit longer, I smothered my head in my pillow. I did that because I fell in love with him when he told me that Yale was 22.8 miles away from Stars Hollow. I didn't want to love Jess. He was my _ex_-boyfriend, you're supposed to get over your ex-boyfriends, not realize that you're in love with him. Why does this happen to me? The two months in Europe would surely help me get over him. I mean, how could I love somebody that I won't see for two months and won't talk to for two months?


	4. Bars and Boys

**AN: I hope that you like this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls**

Mom and I had been in Europe for almost two months, I missed Stars Hollow. I was having the most amazing time, but I couldn't wait to go back home and then start Yale. It was so exciting. We'd be going home in a week and I still hadn't talked to Jess. I didn't necessarily want to, but it was 5:00 in the evening and I was in London. Mom had successfully ate all of our food, so she had to go out and get some. I looked at the phone on the bedside table, we were staying in a hotel while in London. I picked up the phone and started dialing the all too familiar number, why do I do this to myself?

It rang about three times and I was hoping that Luke didn't answer the phone. But he would still be in the diner, so I relaxed. I heard someone answer it, seeming distracted. "Hello?" Jess's voice.

"Hi, it's me," I said, leaning back on the bed.

"Hey Rory. You're calling me. _Why_ are you calling me?" He asked, less distracted. I could hear the smirk on his face.

"Just wanted to make sure that you didn't go anywhere I guess."

"Huh." I didn't say anything for at least a minute, but neither did he. I heard him breathe in. "You're not talking."

"Well, Jess, neither are you," I say to him and he laughs.

"I'm not the one that called you. You called me for a reason, so you must have something to say to me. Not that I mind, but I'm just curious."

"I don't really know why I called. But, we're coming home next week if you were wondering. We're in London too, in case you were wondering."

"I actually was. So, where's Lorelai tonight?"

"How do you know that I'm not with her? For all you know, she could be sitting right next to me."

"Yeah, but I bet you anything that she isn't. You wouldn't be speaking to me so freely if she were sitting right next to you, now would you?"

"You're probably right. Oh, hey, been hanging out with any hot chikas?"

"No, sorry to disappoint. And don't ever say 'hot chikas' again. It scares me."

"Yeah, I think that I scared myself a little too. I should go. I'll see you next week. We should be home on Wednesday, if you wanted to know."

"I'll see you on Wednesday then. I'm sure that you're dying for some coffee from the diner. You know, two months without it, plus the whole avoiding me thing meaning no going into the diner that holds the coffee."

"I'll see you Wednesday. Bye Jess."

"Goodbye Rory," he said, I could hear him smile. I hung up and laid all the way down on my bed. Yes, I had definitely not gotten over Jess. As hard as I tried the past two months, it didn't happen, I don't think it would ever completely happen either. I don't think I wanted it to happen.

My eyes were sagging, I was so close to sleep, when my mom threw the door open. It scared the crap out of me, I sprung up in bed. "Hey Hon. I got a bunch of food, probably way too much, but I'm sure that we can handle it."

"I'm sure that we can. Never doubt the Gilmore girls," I tell her with a smile. She put the bag of food down and sat down on her bed, staring at me. "What?"

"What did you do while I was gone?" She asks with an accusing smile.

"I read and I was about to take a nap, but you ruined that moment. Why?" I ask with the same accusing smile. Like mother, like daughter.

"That's all that you did?"

"Maybe," I answered, not so confidently. Mom noticed it too and was about to ask me another question, but I cut her off. "I may have called somebody."

"Somebody you shouldn't have been calling?" She knows who I called, I can tell from her face.

"Not necessarily. I _probably _shouldn't have called, but I couldn't stop myself from doing it," I try to explain.

"Now was this person of the male species?" She wanted me to tell her, even though she knows.

"Yes," I nearly whisper, but I can see her triumphant smile.

"Perhaps an eighteen-year-old boy that shares a remarkable resemblance with Tony Manero or Rocky Balboa."

"Perhaps." I see her smile grow, not because I called Jess, but because she figured it out. "It was a moment of weakness."

"Are you guys back together?" She asked me, ignoring the moment of weakness comment.

"No. Do you want the whole story or the Reader's Digest version? Either way it makes me sound weak."

"I want the whole story. You're not weak, Rory. You just have really strong feelings for Jess that you can't deny. Now, tell the story."

I told her the whole story, from the meeting at the bus stop to the phone call. She knew everything that had happened before the bus stop. I don't know why I didn't tell her everything else sooner, I guess that I wasn't sure of what to make of it.

"You snuck out of the house and ended up kissing him? And then he kissed you a second time?"

"Yes."

"You told him to hook up with girls while we were in Europe and he said he never did?"

"Yes."

"You called him while we're in London to make sure that he was still there and to tell him when we'd be coming home?"

"Yes. Can you stop with the questioning? I told you everything. And with the sneaking out, I didn't sneak out to meet him, that was just a freakish coincidence, honest. And I only snuck out so that I could take in the town one more time before we left; I wasn't trying to be rebellious or anything."

"Can I just ask one more question? It's not really about the story. Please?" She asked me, pleading eyes.

"Fine, one more question," I told her and she nodded her head, probably thinking of how to ask the question or if she even wanted to know the answer.

"Do you _want_ to get back together with Jess?" She asked after a long pause. I wasn't really expecting that question. I looked from my feet to her face, thinking about my answer.

"There's a slight possibility that I want that." She nodded and stood up to get the food off of the chair she left it on.

"Well, then I support you. Don't let yourself get hurt. OK?"

"Promise," I told her and she smiled. She sat back down with the bag full of food. I sat next to her on her bed to see what she got and I pulled out a bag of cookies. "I love London."

"Oh, so do I," she said as she pulled out a bag of chips. "I miss home though."

"I do too. One more week and we can go home and go to Yale and go to Luke's and you can star work on the Dragonfly with Sookie. We will be insanely busy once we get back."

"Yeah we will. Are you going to talk to Jess in public and civilly? It's obvious that you can be civil when you're alone with him, but when we go to the diner, it will be civil?"

"As long as he doesn't do anything to set me off, I should be fine. It's weird thinking that while I'm away at Yale, he'll be at Stars Hollow High."

"Does that bother you? He's still eighteen, he's just in high school."

"It doesn't really bother me. It just means that _if _we get back together we'd probably only see each other on the weekends."

"Hon, this is Jess we're talking about. He will drive or take the bus to get to New Haven whenever he wants to, even if Luke tells him not to. _If _you two get back together, you're gonna have to talk about that kind of stuff."

"Yeah, I know. And Mom?"

"Yes Honey?"

"Thanks for supporting the decision that I haven't really made yet. It means a lot to me. Really."

"I want you to be happy, and if Jess makes you happy, then I support it."

"Thank you." We sat quietly, the only sound in the room was the crunching of the food. I couldn't take the silence anymore and I didn't know what to talk about. I moved over to my bed again and picked up the remote that was left there and turn on the TV. I flipped through the channels, not sure of what I was in the mood for. I stopped when I saw reruns of _The_ _Office_ on. I looked over at my mom to see her totally engrossed in it as well. Who doesn't love British dramedy?

We decided to stay in for the night. We were both really tired and becoming more and more lazy as the days progressed. Mom fell asleep ten minutes into the second episode of _The_ _Office. _I was really into the show, so I couldn't fall asleep. But, by the time that the second episode was over, I had turned the TV off and fell asleep.

* * *

A few days later, while in Ireland, I thought that it would be a good idea to call Jess again. I don't know _why _I thought it was a good idea to call him, but I still called him. It was the Monday before we would be home and I was getting antsy. Mom and I were sitting in a bar waiting for Bono and I needed pee. I walked past a pay phone to get to the bathroom, and I decided that on my way out I would call him.

I went to the bathroom and washed my hands and then walked back to the pay phone. I looked to see my mom talking to the bartender and smiled to myself before picking up the phone and placing a bunch of coins in it for a long distance call.

He answered the phone immediately. "Hello?" He asked, sounding annoyed.

"Hey, it's me... again," I told him, and I felt a small smile appear on my face.

"Hey Rory. What's up?" He asked, sounding more comfortable than he did when he answered the phone.

"Not much, really. I just called to say hi. Me and Mom are in Ireland and we're in a bar. She's flirting with the bartender, and I decided that it was best to get out of there before my new daddy made a move," I told him and he laughed on the other end.

"You flirting with any bartenders lately?"

"No. I'm not exactly the type of girl to flirt with bartenders while in a foreign country... or anywhere for that matter. Why do you ask?"

"It was just a form of curiosity. Had you said yes, it probably would have thrown me into a jealous rage, but knowing that there are no bartenders on your mind, I'm good," he told me, and I wanted to do some kind of a happy dance, but I decided against it.

"I miss you," I blurted out, not fully thinking. I didn't want him to know that I missed him, even though I did. I could practically hear him smirking through the phone.

"Now is this just because you're in Ireland, or because... because we're not _together _anymore?" He asked, and his hesitation about saying that we weren't _together _anymore almost made me think of him as sweet.

I breathed in, psyching myself up to tell him the truth. Once more: in, out. "Both. I miss being able to walk two minutes down the street to see you, or anybody for that matter. But, I also miss being able to say that I have a boyfriend, named Jess." After I told him that, I felt like I had gotten a lot off of my chest, but I was nervous for his reaction.

"I miss it too," he said to me, and I let out a sigh of relief. "I miss you, I mean."

"That's really good to know, because I'm going to be home in two days and I have a feeling that a face-to-face conversation is needed between us. A talk that doesn't involve me yelling at you for being the jackass that you are," I told him and I leaned against the wall that the pay phone was on, breathing in deep.

"I'm sorry that I'm a jackass. It's not exactly one of my best qualities, but it definitely is a quality that I have."

"Yeah, but at least you're honest about it. Jess?"

"Yes, Rory?"

"I should really get going before my mom does something that she'll regret."

"I understand. I'll see you on Wednesday. We'll have that talk that you were talking about."

"OK, sounds like a plan."

"Bye Rory."

"Bye Jess." I hung up the pay phone with a bang and looked back at my mom. She had given up on the bartender and was watching the TV mounted on the wall. I walked back to my seat at the bar. "Hey."

"Hi Honey. Where were you?" She asked and then took a sip of her soda.

"I had to make a ridiculously expensive, long distance phone call."

"How was he?" She asked, knowing who I had just called without any conversation.

"He's good," I answered her, but decided to change the subject for the sake of not wanting to talk about it just yet. "So, no luck with Paul?" I asked, nodding to the bartender.

"He doesn't seem to be interested. Maybe he's gay."

"That's a very likely possibility." I gave her a small smile and turned to look at the TV, drinking my own soda.


	5. I've Missed This

Our flight got in at four pm, the flight was at six am and we had a layover in New Jersey. While we were standing at the baggage claim, Mom turned to look at me. "You know, it's sad that we have no one to pick us up at the airport after we've been gone for two whole months," she told me with a look of neglect.

"Mom, we didn't want anybody to pick us up. Remember? Sookie and Jackson offered to pick us up, twice."

"Well, third time is a charm."

"Mom, we said that if we could make it across Europe without any help, then we'd get home without help. Don't forget, Grandma and Grandpa also offered to have a limo pick us up, but we declined that too."

"Fine, we may have people that are willing to pick us up, but we still have to ride in a stinky van all the way home," she said with a pout as our bags moved past us and we picked them up and threw them over our shoulders.

When we got into the 'stinky van,' I had to agree, it smelled horrible, but thankfully the ride wasn't that long. We were home by five, and we surely weren't unpacking when we got there. We'd do it the next day, we had far too many things to handle before we rested. We stumbled into our house and I flung my bag on the floor and ran into my room. "I've missed you," I said as I laid down on my bed. My mom walked into my bedroom and saw me rolling around on my bed.

"Jeez, you'd think that there was a million dollars on it or something," she said to me and I stopped and stared at her. "Sorry, I was just kidding. So, I know we have this whole jet-lag thing that we should take care of, but I need coffee and we obviously don't have any here, so do you think it'd be OK to go to Luke's. If not, that's cool, because I could just go and pick some up and tell people that you were napping."

"No, I think it's time. Jess and I will probably go right into talking 'serious' and we'll see how it plays out from there. If it gets weird, I'll just come back and really rest. I think that I'm ready."

"Good, because I didn't want to go alone. After Luke's, I'm going to stop by Sookie's and check on her and Jackson and the baby, then we have to come back here, call my parents, and get to bed early. Tomorrow we need to finish getting you ready for Yale, shopping and stuff, and then on Friday, we have dinner with the Gilmores; and on Saturday, we get you to New Haven for the next four years of your life. Sound good?"

"I guess so. It's all happening so fast. I'm ready for change, but I'm not exactly ready to embrace it yet. So, Luke's?"

"You cannot wait to see that little ex-boyfriend of yours, can you?" She asked me and I smiled as I pushed her out of my room and out of the house. "You really can't. Look at this persistence."

"Mom, I'm taking baby-steps here. And I'm anxious to see everyone; him, Luke, Patty, Kirk, _everybody_. OK?"

"Fine, I believe you. Now get in the car. I've really missed driving, hopefully I can still do it," she said as she hopped into her seat and I walked around to the passenger's side.

"I really hope that you can too," I said uncertainly. She looked over at me and smirked before she drove away towards the square and Luke's. When she pulled up in front of Luke's, we both peered through the window. I don't know what she was looking at, but I was watching Jess lean against the counter, reading a book.

"Ready?" She asked me and I turned my attention to her and nodded. I was so nervous, but I didn't know why. I had talked to him twice while I was in Europe, and both times seemed successful. We had also kissed, _twice_, before I left, so why was I so nervous to meet face-to-face with him?

We got out of the car and looked around. The town seemed dead, no one was walking around, no one was awaiting our arrival like my mom had thought. I wasn't too worried about that though. Once in the diner we would be in the company of Luke, Jess, Kirk, and a few other people. I walked into the diner first, causing Luke to walk out of the kitchen to see his new customers, while Jess didn't even look up from his book. Luke leaned against the counter on his hands and smiled at us. Mom walked in behind me. "Luke!" Now Jess looked up and right at me, but of course, he said nothing.

I sat down in front of him while my mom sat next to me and in front of Luke. "Hey guys. You're back. That's great!" Luke said to us and I smiled at him.

"Of course. We told you that we'd be back today," my mother told him.

"Yes, but I figured that you wouldn't come in _immediately _once you got home," he explained to her.

"Luke, you hold the coffee," she started. "And we," she pointed from her to me. "Live off of the coffee, meaning, that you are the first stop."

"No coffee at your house, huh?"

"Oh, no." Luke walked away from us to go back in the kitchen for something and I looked at Mom. Jess had gone back to reading, after we had a small staring contest, and I wanted to talk to him, maybe get it over with. When I looked at Mom, I mouthed to her, 'now' and she nodded. Before Luke could get back, I cleared my throat, causing Jess to look from his book to me. The whole time my mom watching us intently.

"Could I talk to you?" I asked him and he smirked as he nodded. He nodded to the stairs, indicating to go upstairs. "OK. Mom, I'll be down in a little while."

"OK Honey, I'll be here, unless if I go to Sookie's." I nodded at her and followed Jess up to the apartment.

He held the door open for me as I walked past him. "So..." he said once we were both inside.

"So..." I mimicked and a magnetic force made me walk towards him. "Talking hasn't really been our strong point in the past."

"No, but the past few times, they seemed relatively productive," he told me and I had to agree, we had both gotten a lot out of the way when we had spoke while I was in Europe.

"I'm going to Yale on Saturday," I told him and he nodded. "You need to earn my trust again." He nodded again.

"I'm sorry that I ever lost it," he told me and it was my turn to nod. "I'm sorry for all of the stupid shit that I did, I need you to know that."

"I do, Jess. And back to the Yale thing, I'm not so worried about that. It's not too far from here."

"22.8 miles," he mumbled under his breath, but I heard him and walked closer to him, causing him to look up from the floor. "So, does thinking about the distance that would be between us mean that there's a slight possibility of an _us _again?"

"More than _slight _possibility. Just... not immediately. We need to slowly ease into this, if that's what you want," I told him and _he _walked towards me.

"It's what I want. Maybe not so much the 'slowly ease into' it," he answered sarcastically and I gave him a look of warning and he became serious. "But, I respect you _and _what you want out of whatever this is."

"That's good to know, as long as it's true." He nodded and put his right hand on my left cheek. I took a deep breath as I leaned into his body and let him kiss me long and sweet. When we pulled away, I rested my hand on his chest and my forehead to his. I looked into his eyes and took another deep breath. "I _really_ missed that."

"You have no idea," he said as he pulled me into another kiss, the second more fiery than the first. This time when we pulled away, I rested my forehead on his chest. "Sorry, that wasn't exactly slow easing."

I looked up at him. "No... well, yeah. But, I was just enjoying the moment, I guess."

"Does that mean that the moment is over?" He asked as I laid my head on his shoulder and he hugged me.

"That particular moment, yes," I told him and he sighed. "But, there's always the moment that we're currently living in. This nice hug thing we got going on and all."

"Yes, but this moment must end now for a couple of reasons. One, I never was a 'hugger', and two, I need to get back to work before Luke comes up here, and you need to either go home or find your mom, because I'm sure she's already gone." I hesitantly pulled out of his embrace, but gave him a soft peck on the lips, and nodded.

"You work too much," I told him, as he put his arm around my shoulders and we started for the apartment door.

"That is all Luke's fault. Since he's made me quit WalMart, and he's mad at me for our _situation_, he's making me work non-stop." We left the apartment and walked down the stairs. When we got there, the diner was empty, except Luke in the kitchen.

"Well, maybe now that we have come to an agreement for our _situation_, he'll ease up," I offered him, while he walked behind the counter and walked to stand in front of it.

"Doubtful, but we can dream," he said to me and I nodded.

"I should get going. I'm gonna be busy these next couple of days with Mom and Yale, but call me and maybe you can help Luke when he helps us move my stuff."

"That's definitely an option. I'll call you later," he said. I nodded and leaned over the counter to give him a quick kiss goodbye.

When I was almost to the door I heard Luke leave the kitchen, probably hearing everything that had gone on between me and Jess. While I walked past the diner's window, in the direction of my house, I could see Luke and Jess talking, Luke not looking too happy. Luke cares about the both of us, it's hard for him to have to pick sides.

When I got home, I walked into the living room to find my mom falling asleep with the TV on. "Have you called Grandma and Grandpa? You don't want to wait too long," I told her and she sat up quickly, as if I scared her.

"I wanted to wait until you got home, so that if they want talk to you, they can. After we talk to them, though, _we _need to talk. I need details," she said to me and I gave her a nod and a smile as I handed her the phone.

"Fine, we'll talk when we're done with the grandparents." She showed me a triumphant smile and turned her attention to the phone and started dialing.

"Hi Mom... I _am _callingyou as soon as possible... Yes, I know when we got home, but we had to take care of a-... Sorry... OK." She put her hand over the phone and turned to me. "She wants to talk to you." I took the phone from her and directed my attention towards the phone while she mocked Grandma.

"Hi Grandma," I said to the phone.

"Hello Rory. I just wanted to say a quick hello and ask about the trip. So, how was it?" She asked me as I sat next to my mom.

"It was _amazing_, Grandma. We had the best time."

"That's wonderful, Rory. Well, I know that you need to rest, so we'll talk more of the trip on Friday. You'll be there, correct?"

"Of course, Grandma. I'll see you then."

"Goodbye Rory," she said. I hung up the phone and looked over at my mom.

"She seemed so much nicer to you. It's completely not fair," she pouted, and I gave her a sympathetic smile. "So, forget her, and let's move onto Jess."

"What do you want to know?" I asked her.

"First, did you guys _kiss_?" She asked with a childish tone.

"After some talking, yes we did. OK, I'll start with the fact that he apologized, and I could tell that he meant it. We didn't really talk about the whole Yale thing in depth, but we mentioned it. And I told him that I wanted to slowly ease into this thing we have going, and he respects and will be happy to do it."

"And then ya kissed?"

"Yes, twice. And then we had a really nice hugging moment, until he realized that he's not a big 'hugger'. It isn't all set-and-ready-to-go, but it's at a pretty good starting point."

"Well, you seem happy, so I'm happy for you. For him, he's one lucky punk to get a girl like you swooning over him."

"I _do not _swoon. I am not a _swooner_. OK?"

"Whatever you say, but you should get some sleep, and I definitely should get some sleep."

"OK, goodnight Mom. I love you," I told her and she kissed my cheek before both of us got off of the couch.

"I love you too. Sweet dreams," she told me as she walked up the stairs. Once she was upstairs, I went into my bedroom and looked at the alarm clock beside my bed. 8:27 at night and we were ready for bed. Sure we needed to take care of the jet lag that we had, but I really wasn't tired. I looked at the phone and decided that I needed to call Lane, I hadn't talked to her since we were in Italy.

I dialed her number and waited for Mrs. Kim to pick up, but was surprised when Lane picked up. "Hello?" She whispered into the phone.

"Why are you whispering, Lane?" I asked her and she shrieked in my ear.

"Rory! Oh my God! I haven't talked to you in weeks. You're back now, right? We need to talk."

"Oh, you have no idea how badly we need to talk," I told her as I laid down on the bed.


	6. Moving

**AN: Sorry that it took awhile to update. I've been trying to write the perfect ending of my other story and got distracted with other things. But, I remembered that this story needed to be updated, so I hope that you like it. I think this chapter came out good. Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gilmore Girls

I was sitting on my porch the morning I was supposed to be leaving for Yale. Lane and Mom were sitting with me as we watched Luke and Jess pile the last few things in the bed of Luke's truck. I saw, out of the corner of my eye, Lane look from me to Jess, back to me and then back to Jess again. "What are you doing?" I asked her, causing her to look at me one last time.

"I'm wondering the same thing about you. I've been here since before Jess has and you've been avoiding him since he got to your house," she whispered fiercely, getting my mom's attention.

"I'm not avoiding him, he's busy. If I were to strike up a conversation with him, I'd be distracting him and then it would take longer to get me to Yale," I retaliated, also whispering.

"Hon, it does seem like you're avoiding him. They haven't been working the _entire _time. I've even struck up a conversation with Jess and I don't like him very much. You haven't said more than three words to him, _literally_," Mom chimed in. She had leaned in closer to me and Lane so that we could hear her barely audible comment.

I thought about it for a few seconds as I watched him load the last box and then sit with Luke to talk about something or other. I turned back to Lane and Mom. "I'm not trying to avoid him. I don't know why I am. What should I do?" I asked them, watching their reactions closely.

"I think that you should take him with you to Yale. He's supposed to be going back to the diner, right?" Lane asked and I nodded. "Okay, bso ask him to come to Yale to help you guys unpack. Luke and Lorelai can go in the truck and you and Jess can take your car, so you'll be alone to talk."

"Luke won't let him come," I told her and my mom showed off that mischievous smile everyone knows so well.

"He will if _we _ask him to," she pointed out and I nodded, showing _my_ mischievous smile.

"Well, I see that my work here is done. I need to get home, Mama wants me to work in the store today. She says I need to make money," Lane said before standing up from the porch steps. Mom and I stood up also. I gave her a hug. "Good luck." She walked away from us and past Luke and Jess. "Bye guys." They waved goodbye.

My mom took me by the hand and pulled me to stand in front of Luke and Jess. "Luke, can we talk to you for a minute please?" She asked him and he nodded, confused. We walked far enough away so that Jess wouldn't be able to hear us. When all three of us were standing in a circle, my mother nudged me in the side with her elbow.

"I... We were wondering if it would be okay for Jess to come to Yale with us. He can help unpack the truck, so it'd be helpful. He can ride with me, and Mom can ride with you if it's okay," I asked him, giving him my best puppy face without being obvious.

"I don't know if Caesar can handle the diner that long by himself," Luke told us and I gave him a more obvious puppy face.

"Luke, I'm sure that Caesar will be fine. The breakfast rush is just ending now, so it won't be that busy. Caesar has run the diner by himself before, somebody had to do it before Jess got here. Do it for Rory, don't even think that you're doing it for Jess," Mom said to him, which got him thinking.

"Fine. He can come with us to Yale as long as Rory drives."

"Thank you Luke," I said before I walked away and up to Jess, who was sitting on the back of Luke's truck. "Hey," I said as I sat next to him.

"Hey," he said, not looking at me. I could tell that he knew I was avoiding him.

I sighed from my seat and leaned against a box. "Do you want to come to Yale with us?" I asked him.

He looked at me. "I can't. Luke wants me to help Caesar when you guys go. I wish I could," he told me and I flashed him a big smile. "What?"

"Mom and I already persuaded Luke to let you come. You don't have to, but if you want to, it's okay with Luke and my mom, as long as I drive, and it's definitely okay with me," I told him. "If you come, you get to go with me in my brand new car."

"You don't have to try and make it sound tempting. I'll go since you want me to. It's even better that I don't have to sit in a car with Luke for forty minutes," he said to me as he put his arm around my shoulders. I leaned my head up and kissed him on the cheek.

"Get off my truck!" Luke yelled as he and mom climbed into the front. Jess and I jumped down and Jess closed the the back right before Luke drove out of my yard.

"I'm moving. I don't know how I feel about this," I said and Jess put his rm around my shoulders again and led me to my car.

"Yes, you do. You feel good about it. You're going to Yale, you're getting one of the best educations out there. You'll be home every weekend, talk to your mom and Lane everyday; not to mention, I'll stop by to see you whenever I can or whenever you want me to," he said to me as we stood outside of the driver's side of my car.

"That doesn't sound too bad." He shook his head to show that he agreed with me. He kissed my forehead and then opened the door for me. I was surprised, but I got in the car and closed the door and waited for him to slide into the passenger's seat. I started up the car and drove away from my house in silence. We sat in silence for at least five minutes until I broke it, causing him to look from the window to me. "So, I was informed earlier that I was avoiding you."

"Really? 'Cause I had no idea," he said sarcastically, looking out the window again. He sounded hurt. Maybe that's why I did it in the first place; subconsciously I was trying to hurt him. Crap, I really hoped that he hadn't figured that out.

"I'm sorry," I told him. He waved it off, like he didn't care, but I knew that he did. "It wasn't deliberate. I didn't even realize that I was doing it until Lane pointed it out, and I feel really bad. I mean, I asked you to help out today so that I could see you, you called last night like you said that you would, and I avoided you. I'm really sorry."

"I know that you are. It's okay, I've done enough to deserve being avoided. It just seemed weird, because it seemed like we were headed into a really good place, and I thought that you felt the same way."

"I _do _feel the same way, Jess. We've already gotten to a good place in just a few days, that's weird for us. Usually it takes us a while to get to a good place; I'm happy that this is working so well. I am," I told him, trying to convince him of the truth. I was scared to let him all the way in, because Jess will never be the most reliable guy, and to let him know just how much I cared about him and how badly I needed him in my life was a really scary thought.

"Fine, then I believe you," he said. I nodded and kept my mouth closed. I wasn't in the position to keep talking while behind the wheel of a brand new car. Neither of us enjoyed the silence, it wasn't all that comfortable. I saw Jess turn on my radio and search for a good station. He searched for a good five minutes with no luck and got frustrated so turned it off. While keeping my eyes on the road, I reached over and opened my glove compartment, causing my CD book to fall into his lap. "Thanks," he said with an amused smirk.

"The radio sucks," I pointed out and he nodded as he flipped through all of my CDs. I saw him pause for the ones he liked but wasn't in the mood for and then I saw him stop completely. I turned quickly to see what he was looking at and saw that it was a CD that Mom and I bought in Italy.

He caught me looking and I turned my attention back to the road. "So, apparently I don't have to worry about bartenders, but I have to worry about half-naked, Italian men that can sing?" He asked with a mocking tone.

"I'd be more worried about the Irish bartenders than the Italian singers. I only got it because my mom made me. She said that I can look at it while I'm lonely and away at school. I didn't even remember that I had it. Mom put that in there the other day," I explained to him and he just nodded still amused. He kept flipping and I kept driving. He finally found something that seemed to satisfy what he wanted to listen to and put it in the CD player. It was The Shaggs, the one that I had borrowed from him over a year ago.

"This sounds awfully familiar," he told me.

"Yeah, about that," I started and then saw that we were about to pull into Yale. "Oh, hey, look at those big ivy-covered halls," I said as I pulled up behind Luke's truck where Luke and Mom were still sitting.

"So, now that you're here, what do you need to do?" He asked as I shut off the car and turned to look at him.

"I need to go to my room, then you guys should start unpacking while I go on the tour, it'll take about an hour. Then, Mom has some kind of seminar and I'll help you finish unpacking, then I'm done and you guys will probably leave once Mom comes back from the seminar," I explained and he nodded.

"So, I came here to unpack and spend like an hour with you and _Luke_?" He asked me and I nodded sadly. "Okay, so let's get you moved in." He got out of the car and walked up to Luke's window and knocked while I carefully stepped out of my car and took in the sight of Yale University.

I walked to my Mom's side of the truck and got greeted by my freshman counselor. Once we all introduced ourselves and I got my room assignments and Tess left, I turned to see Luke, Jess, and Mom taking things out of the truck. I joined them and grabbed a box.

"Okay, so this is my building," I stated as the four of us walked into Durfee Hall. I walked up to the door that was assigned to me, but it was already open. When we walked in, I spotted a load of brand new furniture and a women bent down above the couch. "Oh no."

My mom heard me and dropped the box that she was holding before pushing Jess back into the hallway. "Mom, what are you doing here?" She asked Grandma who was now staring at me, Mom, and Luke with a large smile on her face.

"I wanted to see Rory on her bog day. I know that I saw her last night, but I thought it would be nice to surprise her with my housewarming gift in person," Grandma explained, gesturing to the furniture sprawled around the room. Mom and I nodded in disbelief. "Lorelai, who was that boy that you pushed into the hallway a few moments ago?"

"Oh, that was just some kid who was helping us move Rory's stuff," she lied trying to protect Jess and myself from the wrath of Emily Gilmore. Luke snickered from his spot and then stopped abruptly when my grandmother stared him down.

"Oh, that's Rory's room there, okay, I'll just put this box in there," he said walking towards the door that had a post-it displaying my initials, along with the initials PG. We watched him walk into it and heard the box hit the floor lightly.

"Grandma, you bought all of this furniture?" I asked once the initial shock was out of my system.

"Yes, isn't it beautiful? I thought that it would be a nice surprise," she explained and I wanted to cry. How was I going to explain this furniture to three girls that I didn't know?

"Yeah, really beautiful Mom, but I don't know if Rory can accept this," Mom said and I let out a sigh of relief that I wasn't the one that had to say it.

"Of course she can, it's a gift to her and her roommates. Everybody will love it," she told me and then glanced at her watch. "Oh, well I should get going. I just needed to drop this off and I wanted to see you and Rory. I need to be at a DAR meeting in a little while. Goodbye Rory," she said as she gave me a light kiss on the cheek. "Goodbye Lorelai," she said and she walked out of the door while Jess walked into it, carrying two boxes that covered his face. "Thank you for the help," Grandma said, slipping a ten dollar bill on top of the boxes and leaving the building.

Jess dropped the boxes and the floor and was about to pocket the ten until Luke came from my room and grabbed it out of his hand and gave it to me. I looked at it funny and put it in my pocket and then looked at my watch. "I really need to go. I'll be back in an hour," I told them and Luke nodded. Mom kissed me on the cheek and followed Luke out to the truck. "Want to walk me?" I asked Jess who shrugged and put an arm around my shoulder. We walked towards my door but were walked into by a familiar looking blond girl. "Oh my god," I said under my breath, realizing it was the one and only Paris.

"Rory, hey. Oh, I didn't think that I would catch you. I was just coming to check out the suite before going to the tour. Can I walk with you?" She asked, overly-peppy for Paris and then she spotted Jess. "What is he doing here?" She was now using the recognizable 'Paris' voice.

"He's walking me to the tour and then helping Luke and my mom unpack and then he's hanging out with me for a while," I explained. Paris nodded and turned her back to us and started walking towards our destination.

"At least you know one of your roommates," Jess whispered in my ear as we followed her.

"Oh, yay," I told him sarcastically once we stopped in a line. I took a deep breath and looked over at him as he unwrapped his arm from my shoulders. "I'll see you in a little while."

"Okay, I'll be in your room probably," he told me. He turned to walk away.

"Jess!" I called out to him and he walked back to stand in front of me. His eyebrows were raised in question, so I leaned up to kiss him softly on the lips. "Bye."

"Bye Rory," he said and walked away from me. I watched him until he was out of sight and then stood next to Paris.


	7. Alone

As I watched Paris leave the dorm, I didn't know what to do. "Mommy!" I yelled as I walked into my room where her, Luke, and Jess were sitting around. "Paris left," I told her and she looked confused. "She's not coming back until tomorrow afternoon. I'm going to have to stay here all alone, because my other two roommates also don't come until sometime tomorrow." Her face softened and I sat next to her on my bed, burying my face into her shoulder.

"Honey, where'd she go for the night?" She asked me.

I sat up and looked her in the eye. "It's Jamie's last night in Hartford before he needs to go back to school," I told her and she understood what I meant right away. "I have a crazy idea," I said as I realized that I did, in fact, have a crazy but _good_ idea.

"What is this crazy idea?" She asked me. The whole time that we were having this conversation, Jess and Luke were arguing about something while they sat on Paris' bed.

"Well, since Paris' bed is empty, maybe you could stay here," I filled her in with a lot of excitement, but all I saw was her face drop. "What's wrong with the idea? You don't look like you like it."

"Honey, I love it. I do. It's just that tomorrow I have to get up really early, because Sookie and I have meetings all day from eight in the morning to three in the afternoon. I can't stay tonight. I _really _wish that I could, but if I'm late tomorrow, it would be really bad for both me and Sookie. I'm sorry, Babe," she told me and I fell backwards on my bed, catching Jess's eyes that were now watching me while he listened to Luke. I showed him my face that said I wasn't happy, but he didn't get it. Then I got an even _crazier_ idea.

"Mom, could I talk to you in the common room, please?" I asked her as I sat up in bed, losing Jess's gaze. My mom nodded and followed me to the new couch where we sat.

"What's up?" She asked and then Jess walked into the room.

"Luke wants to leave soon, just so you know," he told Mom. She nodded. Jess looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"I have to talk to her real quick, but then I'll say goodbye to you. Okay?" I asked him and he nodded before going back into my bedroom. Then I turned to Mom. "Or I won't have to say goodbye to him."

"What? Why wouldn't you say bye to Jess? I mean," she said, but then she understood what I was insinuating. "No, Rory. He cannot stay here with you tonight. No way!"

"Why not, Mom?"

"Plenty of reasons, but I'll start with the most obvious one: He's Jess. I don't trust him and I don't like him, and he's Jess!"

"But you trust me, don't you? Nothing will happen," I told her and she just kept shaking her head 'no.'

"I _do _trust you, but you said that you might be ready to do _it_ and I don't want to think about that right now."

"Mom, I said that before the incident in Kyle's bedroom. I'm starting to trust him, but not enough to do that. Honestly, you don't have to worry about that. I just need somebody to keep me company. He'd be sleeping in Paris' bed while I slept all the way on the other side of the room, in my bed. I _really _don't want to stay here alone on my first night. Please Mom. _Nothing _will happen, I swear. And plus, if he tries something and I say no and he gets mad, there'll be no Dean to fight with."

"Yes, but there is an entire floor of boys above us, all of which I probably trust more than I trust Jess."

"Mom, I honestly don't think that he's stupid enough to try something right now."

"I _really _don't like this idea, but I do trust you and the decisions you make. But what about Luke, he'll _never _allow it. You know that, I know that, Jess knows that, hell, Luke knows that," she told me, but she also knew that we could persuade Luke.

"Mom, we got Jess to come here didn't we? Luke can't say no to the both of us, you know that. Can't you at least try? I can't stay here alone tonight and I can't go back home, so please!" I begged her and I knew that she had caved.

"Fine," she told me and I clapped quietly. "Luke!" She called and he exited my room alone.

"What? We need to go soon. It should be fun to stuff the three of us in the seat of my truck," he said.

"Well, we might have a solution for that," I told him and he raised a confused eyebrow. I patted the seat between me and Mom, indicating for him to sit down, so he did.

"Luke," Mom started, sounding shaky. "Paris left for the night and Rory can't stay here alone tonight, it creeps her out, and I don't really want her to stay alone either, so-"

"You're staying here with her. Good, more room in the truck," he cut in, but my mom put up a hand to hush him, indicating that she wasn't done yet.

"No, I can't stay tonight, I have meetings really early in the morning that I can't miss. Sookie and the new inn are counting on me," she explained.

"So, then what's the solution?" He asked and then he understood, just the same way Mom had. "No, he can't stay here. Neither of us trust him, Lorelai."

"I know Luke. But we both trust Rory. I trust Rory to the right thing. Now, I hate this idea just as much as you do, but there's an empty bed in Rory's room that he could sleep on. There's also the couch and the chair out here. There will be no two people in Rory's bed tonight, I promise you. I trust her Luke. I don't trust him, but I trust her enough for the both of them and I know that you do too," she said to him, doing her best to persuade him. He looked really upset, but I think he knew I could handle this.

He didn't say anything, he just got off of the couch and into my room, closing the door. "What do you think that means?" I asked my mom who shrugged. We sat quietly trying to hear what Luke was saying in the other room, but didn't hear anything that would help us understand. After a few minutes of waiting in silence, Mom and I saw Luke pushing Jess into my common room and pushing him to sit down in the new chair. The whole time, Jess was smirking, almost smiling, causing me to chuckle silently.

"We," Luke started gesturing between him and Mom, "need to leave. I was supposed to be back at the diner an hour ago. You," he said pointing at Jess, "do not get off of that chair _at all_. You," he said pointing at me, "don't let him start any trouble. I'll see you next weekend." Then Luke left.

"Bye Honey," Mom said to me and I stood up to give her a hug. "I'll talk to you later. You," she said pointing to Jess, "behave yourself." And then Mom left and I was left alone in my dorm with Jess.

"So, this is an interesting turn of events," Jess said once I sat back down on the couch.

"I'm sorry if you don't want to be here, I just didn't want to stay alone tonight. I really appreciate it," I told him. I was hoping that he didn't mind, because that'd just be awkward.

"I don't mind staying here, Rory. I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be, we both know that," he told me and he was right. I nodded and leaned back in the couch. It was a very comfortable couch. "So, can I be completely out of character and ask you a question?" He asked after a few seconds of silence.

"Um... sure. What do you need to ask me?" I asked, watching him closely. He was squirming, it was always funny when he squirmed; I wanted to laugh, but he seemed serious, so I kept it in.

"See, I was sitting here wondering what I am to you? I mean, I know that we're slowly easing into something, but I don't know what the something is." I nodded my head at what he was saying and thinking about how to answer that.

"Right now, I guess we're dating, but not in a relationship. I don't know Jess, I'm trying to take this slow, you know?"

"I do know, Rory. But you say we're dating, but not in a relationship, so I have another question," he told me and I nodded again. "What do you want out of this?"  
"I don't know, Jess. I won't know until... I know," I said, confusing both him and me. "Jess, I just know that the biggest obstacle that we need to get over, is that I need to be able to trust you again."

"Well, you must be able to trust me at least a little. I mean, if you didn't trust me, I wouldn't be here, would I?"

"I am starting to trust you more. You said that you'd call and you did, you helped us move my stuff, and you waited for me. You've earned a lot of points in the last few days, you have," I told him.

"I waited for you? You didn't expect me to wait for you? What did you expect me to do?" He asked me, obviously not remembering the conversation that we had when I got back from Washington the year before.

"I don't know. I just remember you saying something about not waiting for me over the summer," I explained and he nodded in recognition.

"Yeah, that was when you were with Dean and I was jealous," he admitted.

"You weren't the only jealous one," I filled him in and he nodded as if he already knew, which it was obvious that he did, everybody knew that I was jealous of Shane. "So, I guess to answer the original question of where I want this to go is that I want to be able to call you my boyfriend, I guess. That sounds really lame at the moment, but it _is _true."

"Okay, I don't want to sound needy or anything, but do you know how long that'll take?" He asked me as he walked over and sat next to me on the couch.

"I honestly don't know," I told him and he nodded, sitting back in the couch. I leaned into his side and he lifted his arm so that I could find the place where I fit perfectly and then draped it over my shoulders. "I feel very grown up," I told him as I laid my head on his chest and my arm across his abdomen.

"Why is that?" He asked as he intertwined our fingers with my arm laying across his stomach and his hand not around my shoulders.

I watched our fingers and how they fit so well together and then said, "I don't know. I'm in college and I'm in my dorm room alone with you. I'm surprised that Mom and Luke actually let you stay."

"I am too. When Luke told me I thought that he was kidding. I wonder if they're watching us through a window or something."

"I don't know. Didn't Luke have to get back to the diner?" I asked him.

"That's true. I wouldn't trust Caesar alone with the diner as long as he did. I honestly don't know how he could have lived without me, nobody can," he joked.

"I know of a few that wouldn't have minded you not coming to Stars Hollow."

"Oh yeah, who?"

"Um, let's see. Dean."

"Well, that's obvious why. Who else? Your mom?"

"Yeah, no offense, but my mom hates you."

"She has every reason to hate me. It doesn't really bother me. As long as you don't hate me, I'm fine."

"I tried the whole hating you thing... yeah it didn't work very well. I guess that's why we kissed before I left and then why I called you while I was gone and then how we kept kissing once I got back; I apparently can't hate you," I told him.

"Huh," he said, smirking. We sat quietly for a minute and then he took a deep breath, causing my head to move up and down with his chest.

"Oh, have you heard about Dean and Lindsay?" I asked him out of the blue. It just came out, I wasn't even thinking about it. He looked down at me, with a questioning look, and then towards the TV.

"Who's Lindsay?" He asked as he let go of my hand and ran his through his hair.

"You're going to like this one. Lindsay is Dean's fiancé. I found out before we left for Europe," I told him and I could feel him laugh.

"Bag Boy is getting married? That's just too good," he said between laughs.

"They're so stupid. I mean, Dean is my friend and all, but they are way too young and I think that he knows that."

"So, Lindsay's that girl that was at the party with him?" He asked.

"Yeah," I told him and then we sat in another silence, but it was a comfortable one. Of course, I had to break the silence so that I could thank him. "Hey Jess?"

"Yeah?" He asked, looking down at me.

"Thank you. Thanks for staying with me tonight, it means a lot to me." He nodded to say that it was no problem and then leaned down to kiss me. When he did, I sat up so that my face was level with his, but never removed my lips from his.

I put my hands on the base of his neck and he put his hands on my waist as I laid down, him hovering above me. I pulled my face away from his once breathing became a necessity, and smiled at him. He smiled back and then kissed me softly on my cheek and then I caught his mouth with mine again. When I felt his tongue playing at my lips, I granted him access and then let him search my mouth before playing along and started a battle between my tongue and his. When he pulled away, I shifted so that he could lay next to me comfortably and then kissed him quick one last time. "We seem to end up like that a lot," I told him as I turned to look at him.

"Yeah. Yeah we do," he said back to me, smirking. "I wonder why that is."

"Because we're so damn good at it?" I asked sarcastically.

"That could be the reason," he answered as he kissed me on the cheek again.

"And that's how it starts," I told him in a joking manner and he laughed it off as he reached over my body and grabbed the remote off of the stupid coffee table that Grandma bought.

"TV?" He asked. I shrugged and then turned my body around so that I was laying with my back against his chest. He kissed the back of my head and then turned the TV on before flipping through the channels and stopping on a half-finished movie. Laying like that was a new form of comfort.


	8. Brown and Khaki Shirts

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls**

I woke up the next morning feeling an odd pressure around my waist. I realized that I wasn't in my bed, or any bed for that matter, and that I was definitely not alone. When I finally opened my eyes, I saw Jess's sleeping form and remembered that we had fallen asleep while watching movies. It was Jess's arms that were the result of the odd pressure around my waist. At some point during the night I must have turned around so that my back was no longer against his chest, because now my hands were against his chest. I couldn't help but smile at the fact that I was waking up next to him; it felt calming, even though every so often I could hear a small snore escape his body.

His chin was resting on top of my head as I rested my forehead on his Adam's apple. Our legs were tangled together like neither of us could find a comfortable position to sleep in until we were as close as possible. When I had to scratch my cheek, I had to move my hand from his chest, and I brushed his face by accident, causing him to stir awake. "Sorry," I said as I proceeded to scratch my cheek.

He looked down at me and choked out a breath. "It's okay," he told me, sleep lacing his voice. I smiled up at him and started to push myself up on the couch, so that my face was directly next to his. He moved his arms with my body, so that they never left my waist.

When I settled, I looked him in the eyes. "Good morning," I said to him, smiling again, before I kissed his cheek. "Fancy seeing you here," I added sarcastically, causing him to crack a smile, a rare but fulfilling occurrence.

"I think so," he told me and I too smiled. He leaned forward to kiss me and I let him, despite our morning breath. I reveled in his first-thing-in-the-morning kiss. Once I realized that my hands were resting on his abs underneath his shirt, I pulled away from the kiss, but didn't move my hands just yet. "Rory," he whined once our lips parted.

"Jess?" I asked, starting to sit up and untangling our legs.

"It's too early to move. Why are you moving?" He asked, sitting up with me as my hands left his stomach, but his not moving off of my hips.

"Because, I think it's the wise move in this situation," I admitted. "I am in no condition to be laying with you like that while I'm feeling the way that I do."

We repositioned ourselves so that we were sitting straight up with our backs against the back of the couch, abnormally far apart. "Okay. I'm usually not one to want to talk about these sorts of things; but how _are _you feeling?" He asked, stretching his arms above his head and then resting them at his sides.

"The way I always feel when I get closed to you."

"Rory, you're being cryptic. How do you feel when you get close to me?" He asked the question trying to hide a smirk, but he was far from successful.

"I feel scared. Scared that I might be falling for you too hard and too fast. But I know that it's not too fast, because I've been _slowly_ falling for you since you moved to Stars Hollow, you know when I had a boyfriend? It was the wrong time for me to fall for you then, I just ended up hurting Dean, and that wasn't fair to him. However, I couldn't help myself, and then Dean broke up with me, and it was finally okay for me to fall for you. So, that's what I did; I fell for you and finally landed, I guess," I told him, sounding too cliché for even myself. He was about to say something, but I cut him off before he could. "It's scary, but it also feels right, because I seem to fit into every crevice of your body when we walk down a street or when we sit around watching movies, or even our latest adventure, when we fall asleep next to each other. In my experiences, scary and right are hard feelings to mesh. I've been doing what I can to silence my feelings, so that we can live in the moment and get someplace really good, but I can't because I feel too much at one time." He watched me closely for a second, maybe waiting for me to continue, but I couldn't tell him what I wanted to tell him ever since our late night escapade before I left for Europe; how I stupidly loved him. I wasn't ready. Not yet.

"Ror," he choked out, causing me to look at him for the first time since I started rambling. He moved closer to me, but not too close so that we would touch. "You know that I don't like to show my feelings, I know that I don't like to show my feelings. Apparently, we have something in common. We have lots of somethings in common, but this is new, so let's focus on it. Okay?" He asked me and I silently nodded, watching him as he spoke. "Stop being afraid to tell me how you feel. I won't laugh at you or scold you. Now, I still won't tell you how I feel, unless it's a really pressing issue, but don't hesitate to tell me things. I know that you don't completely trust me yet, but I want you to when it comes to this, and everything, because you have no idea how badly I want you back."

"I really do hate the way that you make me feel," I said sadly as I fell to my side, causing my head to lay on the armrest of the couch. I pushed my legs off of the floor and laid them over Jess's thighs.

"I hate the way that I make you hate the way that I make you feel," he told me, causing me to chuckle slightly. "And I _really _hate the way you make me talk like a bumbling idiot," he added in a joking manner. I turned over so that I was on my stomach and my head was turned away from him, but his hands were now resting on my calves.

"You sure are a sweet talker, Jess Mariano," I sarcastically told him.

"Yes, well, I have a charm that no one can resist, Rory Gilmore," he told me, sounding serious, but obviously joking. "So, I can't even kiss you until you decide what you want us to end up as?"

"Jess, I told you what I want us to end up as, it just hasn't come around yet," I told him as I turned onto my back, causing him to lift his hands until they could rest on my legs again. "We can kiss. Honestly, I can't see us being alone and not kissing. Hell, I can't see us being in public and not kissing. Our lips are like freaking magnets." He laughed from his seat and pulled on my legs so that my head was no longer on the armrest and I was practically sitting on his lap. "Oh, you mean now?" I asked him slyly, causing him to smirk as he leaned closer to me, but not close enough to kiss me just yet.

"I'm an 'of the moment' kind of guy, Rory. So yes, I do mean now." Then his lips were descended onto mine. I sat up, leaning into him more as he sat up straight and I fixed my legs so that one was resting on each side of his body, I was straddling him. Holy crap, the power that we had over each other was astounding. His hands found their way to my face as he cupped it, making me lean into him even more so. My hands were resting on his chest as I pulled away slightly before he engulfed my mouth with his again, begging for entry, I granted him that. We enjoyed our usual battle as his hands moved from my face to rest on my hips. It baffled me how we could go from such an intense conversation to _that_ in a matter of minutes.

His fingers were laced with my belt loops and I had moved one hand to his hair and the other was on the base of his neck as I held him as close as possible. We pulled away from each other simultaneously, needing air. I rested my forehead against his and gave him a quick peck. I was perched above his lap, but not actually sitting on it. His hands were still playing with my belt loops, but his thumbs were rested on the small strip of skin that was showing, and my hands were rested upon his shoulders as I finally settled onto his lap. He kissed me again, but I heard my phone vibrate on the coffee table behind us, so I pulled away. "Rory, no. Come on, we are so in the moment," he moaned, trying to catch my mouth again.

"Jess, it's probably my mom. You should be grateful that she didn't try to call us last night," I told him as I pushed him back against the couch and turned around to grab my phone.

"We weren't doing _this_ last night," I heard him mumble before I settled back onto his lap, still straddling him.

"Hello?" I said into my cell phone.

"Rory, it's me, your beautiful mother. How are you this fine morning?" Mom asked over the phone.

"I'm fine, Mom. How are you?" I asked her in the same cheery voice that she was using.

"Oh, I'm great, just great. Okay, I have another question for you. What were you doing before I called?" She asked me, no longer sounding cheery, but suspicious.

"Jess and I were just watching TV, Mom," I lied, causing Jess to laugh quietly. "We haven't been up very long."

"Oh, okay. You're sitting on separate pieces of furniture, right?"

"Yes, Mom. We are on completely opposite sides of the room. Everything is fine, Mom. Don't you have a meeting to go to? You don't need to be worrying about us, we're perfectly fine. We've been good little kids since you left last night."

"Fine, I'll talk to you later. I'll call you before Luke and I leave to come pick Jess up. No buses on Sunday, remember? I know that you don't want to have to drive him back, and I want to see you."

"That sounds great, Mom. I want to see you too. I'll see you later in the afternoon, right? You have meetings until three?"

"Yeah, we'll probably leave Stars Hollow around four. I got to go. I love you, Hon."

"I love you too, Mom. See you later," I told her before I hung up the phone and threw it beside me and Jess. I turned back to look at Jess, who had been watching me intently from the time I picked up the phone. "Her and Luke will be here around five to bring you home," I told him and he nodded.

"I need to get a car," he said and I nodded, agreeing with him. "So, when will I see you after today?" He whispered as I rested my head on his shoulder and he ran his hands up and down my spine, causing me to shiver.

"Probably not until Friday night when I go back to Stars Hollow. You start school tomorrow, right?" I asked after I kissed him lightly on the neck.

"Unfortunately, yes. We have Friday off for Labor Day weekend," he informed me.

"Take the bus here sometime in the afternoon, like at two, I'll be done with classes. We can get some coffee and then drive back to Stars Hollow together, okay?" I asked him, talking very closely to his ear.

"Yeah. We'll do that," he told me as he moved my face so that it was in front of his again. I kissed him hard, pressing my hands against his stomach, underneath his shirt. His hands were underneath my shirt too, but on my back. His left hand was laying flat while his right was roaming until his hand reached through the collar of my shirt and rested on the back of my neck as he deepened the kiss. I moved my hands out from underneath his shirt and laid them on his chest.

I pushed away from him slightly so that we weren't connected by the lips anymore. He moved his hand back down my shirt and rested it in the middle of my back to support it. "I really want to brush my teeth," I told him. He smirked and nodded. I moved my legs to his right and slid off of his lap as he let go of my back from underneath my shirt. I kissed him softly and smiled before getting off of the couch and walking towards the bathroom.

After I was done brushing my teeth, I walked into my bedroom and went through one of my drawers that my mother had organized the day before. I rifled through it until I had found the brown Circa t-shirt that I was looking for. I pulled it out and closed my drawer before walking back into the common room were Jess was now laying down on the couch with his arm draped over his eyes. I threw the shirt onto his stomach and watched him move his arm to pick it up. "What is this?" He asked as he opened his eyes.

I sat on the arm of the couch, opposite of the side that his head was resting on. "It's a shirt for you to change into," I told him and he looked at it more closely.

"This is my shirt," he told me and I nodded. "How did you get my shirt?"

"I took it from the apartment a while ago. Don't ask, it's a girl thing. I just thought that you might like a clean shirt for today, so I'm giving it back to you," I told him quietly. He stood up with his shirt in his hand and walked over to stand in front of me.

"Thanks for stealing my shirt," he said to me, which made me smile. I nodded up at him and he kissed me on the forehead. I stood up to walk into my room so that I could get changed, but on my way to the door, I saw that he was unbuttoning his khaki shirt. I had never seen Jess without a shirt on before, so I decided to stay for a little show. He was paying close attention to the unbuttoning process, so he didn't notice me looking at first, but when he did, his shirt was already off and he was showing off his trademark smirk that seemed so much better when he was shirtless and the top of his boxers were visible. I blushed furiously as he made his way over to me. "Whatcha doing?" He asked once he was in front of me and my ridiculously bright red face.

"See, I was, uh, going to, um, tell you something, but I, uh, saw that you were busy, so I decided to wait," I explained to him, avoiding eye contact the best that I could. I was looking at his hands, one of which was holding the shirt I had given to him and the other was moving towards my face. He tilted my head so that I was forced to look into his eyes, which were glazed with amusement, and kissed me on the lips. The kiss was soft at first, but then he put his hand on the small of my back, deepening it, and pulled me forward causing me to catch myself on his bare chest. I sighed into the kiss and let my hands move down his toned stomach, towards his pants. Once I felt the fabric of his boxers, I moved my hands so that they were rested on his back while my arms were snaked around his waist.

He was the first to pull away, smiling, but I didn't remove my arms from his body. He looked down at me and kissed my forehead again. "What did you want to tell me?" He asked before he kissed me again.

When he pulled away from the quick peck, I rested my forehead on his still bare chest and sighed again. I felt him rest his chin on the crown of my head as he rubbed circles on my lower back. "I was just about to tell you that I needed to change and that I would be out in a minute," I said to him and I felt him nod. "So, I should go and do that." He lifted his head off of mine and then I lifted my head off of his chest, but not before I kissed it quickly, and un-snaked my arms from his waist.

"Don't worry, I'll have a shirt on by the time you're out here," he told me in a joking tone and I nodded as I turned towards my room. I changed into a pair of comfy jeans and my new Yale t-shirt and walked back to the common room were Jess was fully clothed, wearing the brown Circa t-shirt.

"Hey, want to go get some coffee?" I asked him as I sat next to him on the couch and put my feet on the coffee table.

"Sure," he answered, still smirking. He picked up his discarded button-up shirt and put it in my lap. "You can keep this one if you want," he told me.

"I do want to keep it. Thank you," I said before I leaned over and kissed him softly and quickly on the cheek.

"No problem." He stood up from the couch and held his hand out for me. "Ready?" He asked. I nodded and took his hand so that he could pull me up. I left his shirt on the couch and followed him to the door that he held open for me.

"Thank you," I said to him sweetly and he kissed my forehead and closed the door. He put his arm around my shoulders as I put my arm around his waist.

"You're welcome."

**AN: Okay, so here's the next chapter. I'm not sure if I like the way that it came out. What do you think?**


	9. What Do You Want To Do?

**AN: I really hope that you like this chapter. Read, review, and enjoy! I'm not sure if I like how it turned out, so leave your thoughts please, it'd be helpful. :o)**

**Disclaimer: i do not own Gilmore Girls**

On Friday, I had just gotten back from my last class and I had to pack before Jess got to my dorm. When I walked into the common room, I saw my suite-mate, Tanna, watching the TV intently while my other suite-mate, Janet, did sit ups in front of the coffee table. "Hey guys," I said as I passed through the room.

"Hey," they said before I opened the door to mine and Paris' room. She was sitting at her desk, writing furiously until she heard the door close.

"I thought you were going home for the weekend," she said as I sat on my bed, stretching my arms above my head. Classes are tiring.

"Don't worry. I'm leaving as soon as I pack and Jess gets here. I'll be gone until Monday night. Are you going home? It's Labor Day weekend, you should relax while you have the time," I advised her just as I pulled a duffel bag from underneath my bed and stood up.

"I'm going home much later tonight and I'll be home on Monday morning. I have to finish my homework though, and I don't think I'll be able to if you don't stop talking to me," she complained as she turned back to her desk and continued to write.

I put my hands up in surrender. "Sorry. I'll be gone soon," I told her and she waved her left hand at me dismissively. I went from my closet to my bureau, picking out certain pieces of clothing for the weekend I'd be spending in Stars Hollow. I heard a knock on our bedroom door and opened it to see Tanna and Jess. "Hey," I said with a smile.

"Rory, this guy says he's here to see you," Tanna reported.

"Yeah, he is. This is Jess. Jess, this is Tanna," I introduced the two of them with my hand pointing each person out. Jess nodded at Tanna and then she walked away. When he turned back to look at me he had a raised eyebrow and a face full of confusion. I just shrugged them off and leaned into kiss him softly.

"She's interesting," he said quietly when he pulled away.

"Oh yeah," I agreed, opening my door more and stepping aside so that he could walk into the room.

He took in the sights of my room and his eyes landed on Paris. "Hi, Paris," he said.

"Yeah, hi. I'm going to the library. I'll see you on Monday, Rory," she said as she walked past me and Jess. She closed the door and I stood in my room awkwardly, watching Jess browse the book collection above my bureau.

I tried to ignore the fact that I was alone in a bedroom with Jess and continued packing. While I was looking through my closet for a specific pair of jeans, I felt two strong arms wrap around my waist and I smelled his all too familiar scent. "What are you looking for?" He whispered before he kissed the base of my neck.

I slowly turned around to face him and he caught my mouth with his. "I'm looking for jeans," I told him when the short, yet tender, kiss was finished.

"I can see jeans in your bag," he informed me as he looked next to my feet where my duffel bag was laying.

"I need more. I need at least three pairs of jeans and one of my nicer skirts," I said to him, resting my forehead on his shoulder.

"Why do you need a skirt? Have a date that I should be worried about?"

"Jess, tonight is Friday. Friday Night Dinners are back in session. Maybe I'll tell them about you," I said softly, into his neck.

"What is there to tell exactly?" He asked suspiciously. I shrugged and when I did, he kissed my shoulder. "I mean, I'm not you're boyfriend, so really, what's there to tell?"

"Well, maybe I'll tell them that you are my boyfriend," I told him and I felt him take a deep breath.

"Am I?" He asked quietly into my hair.

I took my own deep breath and pulled my head up so that I could see his face. "Only if you want to be," I told him as we stared intently at each other. He tightened his grip on my waist and pulled me into his body. He leaned his head down and kissed me softly on the lips as an answer. When he pulled his face away, I was smiling. "I'm hoping that means you do." He smirked and kissed me more passionately. I kissed him back just as passionately, pushing him backwards to sit on my bed. As he sat, I pulled away from the kiss.

I sat next him and he put his left arm around my waist, pulling me closer. "So, I'm not complaining or anything, but I thought that this process would take a lot longer than a week and a half. At least a month. Are _you _sure that you want this now?" He asked me and I smiled at him.

"I do want this now. I was expecting it to take longer too, but this just feels right. I have to tell my mom too, so maybe I'll just do all three of them at once," I told him and he kissed me on the cheek.

"I'm sure Lorelai would love that," he said sarcastically.

"Oh well. She'll just have to deal with it, because I probably won't see her until dinner anyways," I informed him and he nodded. We sat in silence for a couple of minutes, looking straight forward. Feeling happy with mine and Jess's current situation, I rested my chin on his shoulder so that my mouth was right next to his ear. "So, _Boyfriend_, what do you want to do now?" I whispered. I could see the left corner of his mouth curve into a smile.

He turned to look at me, still smiling. "I don't know _Girlfriend,_ what do _you _want to do?" He asked me, now smirking, leaning closer to me.

I watched him for just a second and then stood up. "I want to finish packing," I told him, but he didn't accept that answer. He reached for my arm and pulled me down so that my face was directly in front of his. "What?" I asked him, a smile playing on my face.

He shrugged. "You have weird ways of celebrating a new relationship," he told me with a low, but playful voice. He kissed me softly, but reassuringly.

"Yeah, I do, my friend," I told him as I flashed him a smile and got out of his grasp to finish packing. After I turned by back to him, I felt a light tap on my butt. I turned my head to look at him and saw him smirking. "Excuse me?"

"So, a few seconds ago I was your boyfriend, and now I'm just a friend?" He asked in mocking hurt tone. I gave him a fake sympathetic smile.

"Yeah, I'm very fickle. I wouldn't get too attached if I were you," I said jokingly before turning back to my closet and pulling out the pair of jeans that I was looking for.

"Oh, well. It's a little late for that," he said quietly, but I heard him. When I turned my head back again to look at him, he was laying across my bed with his eyes closed. I smiled to myself and turned back to my closet to finish packing.

* * *

After I dropped Jess off at the diner and I dropped my bags off at home, I got changed and drove to Hartford. When I pulled into my grandparents' driveway, I sat for awhile, waiting for my mom to pull up behind me. She didn't come while I sat waiting, so I turned my car on and let the radio run while I laid my head back. The first week of Yale was definitely the longest, most tiring experience of my life. When I saw my mom standing outside of my car, I turned it off and got out. "Hey," I said as I closed the door.

"Hey Honey. How was your day?" She asked as we both leaned against my car.

"It was good," I reported back to her and she smiled. I decided then that it was best to tell her about me and Jess being officially back together before telling my grandparents. "Mom, can I tell you something?"

"Of course, Sweetie. What's it about?" She asked curiously.

"Me and Jess," I started and she gasped, causing me to look at her, surprised. "What?"

"Oh my God. You had sex, didn't you? I'm going to kill him, rip his-"

"Mom! Calm down. No one had sex with anyone. I just wanted to tell you that me and Jess are officially 'back together' before I tell Grandma and Grandpa, jeez," I told her, almost yelling to make my point. She took a deep breath and a small smile appeared on her face.

"Oh, thank God," she breathed.

"You're happy that I'm back together with Jess?" I asked her, confused.

"Not necessarily. I'm happy that you're happy, but I'm just really happy that you didn't have sex with him," she informed me. I nodded knowingly and started walking to the door.

"Well, it'll happen eventually, so it's time to get over it now," I reminded her and she nodded stubbornly and rang the doorbell. We waited a few seconds until my grandma tore the door open and looked directly at me. I looked at my mother, surprised and confused, and then back at my grandmother. "What?" I asked innocently.

"You and that _hoodlum _areback together?" She asked me, disgust lacing her voice. Both me and Mom gasped.

"How could you _possibly _know that, Mom?" Mom asked her and she shrugged, moving aside, letting us into the foyer. I still hadn't said anything and had decided to keep it that way for the time being.

"Wouldn't you two like to know," she said once the maid had taken our coats.

"Yes, Mom, we would like to know," my mom said back, gently guiding me into the sitting room behind Grandma.

"Too bad, Lorelai. If you want to know so badly, then Rory should have told me," Grandma retorted, as she stood at the drink cart and Mom and I sat down.

"Grandma," I spoke for the first time, "It just happened today. I really was going to tell you tonight, both you and Grandpa. Really. I _just _told Mom out in the driveway. Where is Grandpa, anyways?" I asked her, changing the subject.

"He's in his study with his new partner," she answered excitedly.

"Oh, who's his new partner?" Mom asked, accepting the drink that Grandma had handed to her.

"Jason Stiles," Grandma answered, smiling. My mom looked at her as if to say 'nope, don't know him,' so Grandma continued. "Digger. Floyd's son."

"Oh, _Digger_," Mom said disgustedly. I took a sip of the coke that my grandmother had given me before she settled into her seat and watched her. She shrugged, still smiling. She must like Jason, or just liked to see Mom disgusted. It didn't matter, because then I saw Grandpa, with a younger man, who I assumed was Jason, walk into the sitting room where the rest of us were.

"Lorelai, Rory, I almost forgot that you'd be here tonight," Grandpa said and I stood up to give him a hug.

"Hi, Grandpa," I said to him.

"Hello Dear," he said back to me. "Lorelai, Rory, this is my business partner, Jason Stiles, he'll be joining us for dinner tonight."

"Well, well, well. Lorelai Gilmore, we haven't seen each other since summer camp," Jason greeted my mother, after shaking my hand with a polite smile.

"No Jason, we haven't," she said back to him. The dislike for him was evident in my mother's voice.

"Well, that was nice," I said once we were standing in my grandparents' driveway again. "Wasn't it?"

"I hate him. I hate him. I hate him. I have always hated him, ever since summer camp, but he's my dad's partner, so I have to be nice to him," Mom whined as we came to our cars.

"He seemed nice to me," I told her, but she just shook her head 'no.'

"He's pompous, Rory. Your father even hated him. Blah."

"Mom, he really doesn't seem so bad anymore. He didn't seem pompous to me and he seemed to like you," I told her with a wink. He had subtly been flirting with her entirely through dinner.

"No, Rory," she said, trying to convince me. "He's just being Jason. Well, I'm going to get going. I'll see you at home?"

"Yeah. I'm stopping by Luke's first to fill Jess in, and then I'll be home," I informed her.

"Okay, I'll see you later then. Bye," she said and then kissed my cheek. I waved as I watched her walk away and get into her car. While she drove away, I got into my own car. I drove home confused. I still hadn't figured out how Grandma had found out about me and Jess getting back together and the subject never came up again once Grandpa and Jason joined us. I guess that it was easier than actually having to tell her, but it was still confusing and interesting. I wondered if Grandpa knew, but I had no inclination to actually ask him. If he knew, he knew, and if he didn't, oh well.

I drove into Stars Hollow, past the 'Welcome to Stars Hollow' sign, with the Shins blasting through my car speakers. I pulled up in front of the diner and saw Jess leaning his back against the counter and he was focusing on something, what I assumed to be a book. I shut off my car and got out, looking around the town for the first time in almost a week. It had felt good to be home. I walked into the diner, the tiny bell on the door announcing my presence, but Jess still had his back to me. When Luke heard the bell, he walked out of the back and nodded when he saw me, but Jess didn't seem to notice. After Luke had walked back into the kitchen, I took a seat at the counter, directly behind Jess, who still had not noticed me.

After a couple of seconds of watching the back of his head, I decided to speak. "Wow, the service here _sucks_." He turned around to face me and closed the book he had been reading. "Ah, but the sights are nice," I added with a smile.

"Why thank you," he said as he leaned over the counter and rested his face centimeters in front of my own. He was smirking and just as he was about to place a kiss on my lips, Luke came from the kitchen.

"Kiss her in my diner, and I swear, you will not get any of the money that you earned today. And you don't want that since it's the first full paycheck you'd be getting since June," Luke said as Jess leaned away from me and against the counter behind him.

"No kissing in the diner, Uncle Luke. You got it," Jess answered, anger rising in his voice. He looked at me and nodded towards the door.

"Bye Luke. I'll see you in the morning for breakfast," I said and he waved before I followed Jess outside. Once I was standing next to Jess outside, I looked at him. "Your first paycheck since June? What was that about?"

"My first _full _paycheck since June. He's been taking money off of my check to pay the damages at Kyle's house," he corrected me and I nodded at him knowingly.

"Oh, well new subject," I added nervously and he nodded in agreement as we leaned against my car.

"How'd dinner go with the Gilmores?" He asked after a few seconds of silence.

"Quite interesting, actually," I started and he nodded, signaling me to continue. "Well, first I told my mom about us while we were in the driveway. She was okay with it, well as okay with it as possible, and then when we knocked on the door and it was opened by my grandmother, that's when the fun really started. See, _she_ informed _me _of our reconciliation, and then she never told me how she found out, but she didn't seem too happy; but after Grandpa and his new partner came into the sitting room, we never brought it up, so I don't know."

"Well, yeah, that's definitely interesting. I wonder how the hell she knew," he said, scratching the back of his neck.

"I don't know. I think that it was easier this way. I don't know what to think. I'm happy that the conversation is out of the way for now. All is well, I'm happy," I said leaning into him to give him a proper hello. He nodded before he closed the gap as he pulled me closer.


	10. Does He?

**AN: Okay, sorry it took so long for me to get this chapter out, but I was having some crazy writer's block. So, I hope you like it. Read & Review :o)**

"Well, well, well. Good morning to you," I said once Jess had opened the door to his and Luke's apartment. He was wearing a white t-shirt, sweatpants, and a scowl. It was nine o'clock on a Saturday morning.

"What are you doing here so damn early?" He asked as he stepped aside so that I could walk into the apartment. I walked past him and looked at him scratching the back of his head while he shut the door.

"Honestly, I just came up here because Luke asked me to wake you up. It's really busy down there and he needs the help."

"Oh, okay. I'll go get changed. Wait here?"

"Yeah, and brush your teeth," I added with a smile. He nodded and walked over to his bureau to grab clothes and then walked into the bathroom, closing the door. I sat down on the couch, waiting for him to come out of the bathroom fully clothed and with better smelling breath. It was really early for me to be up on a Saturday morning, but neither my mom nor I could sleep. Well, I had been sleeping just fine until Mom woke me up by tripping into my door at seven thirty.

I was snapped out of my thoughts once Jess sat next to me on the couch. I looked over at him and smiled. He kissed my forehead and put his arm around my shoulders. It had been three weeks since we officially 'got back together,' and it was working out pretty well. We obviously fought, because that's what Jess and I have and will always do, but it was innocent for the most part. We were happy.

I felt Jess shift on the couch and turned my head to look him straight in the eye. He was trying not to fall asleep. He saw me staring and gave me a smirk before laying his head down on the back of the couch. I leaned over him and gave him a soft kiss, but as I was about to pull away, he placed his free hand on the back of my neck to keep me in place. I smiled into the kiss and he removed his hand. I successfully pulled away and sat back in my seat.

"We should really get downstairs," I said quietly, watching him watch my lips. He looked into my eyes quickly before brushing his lips against mine softly, before standing up.

"Let's go then," he said, his hands extended to me. I gave him a quick smile and held onto his hands as he pulled me up quickly, causing me to fall forward and into him.

"Clever plan, my friend," I whispered into the crook of his neck, where my head had landed. He laughed and I felt it throughout my whole body that was pressed against his. I kissed his neck lightly as he moved his hands from my hands to my elbows. I looked up at him and kissed him softly, as he let go of me. I smiled at him and left the apartment, him following closely behind.

Once we had entered the diner, I could barely see my mother through all of the bustle. But once I caught her eye, she nodded for me to look next to her and when I did, I saw the side of my father's face. Thankfully he hadn't seen me, so I reached behind me and came in contact with Jess. "What?" He asked as he place a comforting hand on the small of my back.

"Abort mission! Abort mission!" I whispered harshly as I pushed him into the storage room. He tripped over the threshold and I would have laughed if I weren't in shock.

After I closed the door I turned to see his confused face. "Rory, what the hell is going on?" He asked, lightly holding my shoulders to keep me in front of him.

"Do not say my name so loudly. This door is not sound proof!"  
"I understand that. But who don't you want hearing your name?"

"My father is sitting at the table I was sitting at ten minutes ago and when I was sitting there he was not. I had no idea that he was coming. I'm sorry to bombard you with this. You don't have to meet him, really. I don't even think he knows that I have a boyfriend. I do want you to meet him, but I understand if you don't want to. God, what is he even doing here? He just shows up out of nowhere, without any notice. I mean, I saw my mom's face and it was just as surprised as I am."

"Wow. Time to calm down. We will go out there, I will meet your father, and it will be okay. Or as okay as possible. Alright?"

"Okay. Okay, I'm sorry for freaking out. I'm just surprised. Come here," I said as I leaned up and gave him a soft kiss. "Thanks for dealing with the craziness."

"Hey, I'm used to it," he said softly before he gave me another soft kiss. I gave him a weak smile and took his hand.

"Oh, can you give me a minute with him and Mom? I want to see why he's here first. I'll come get you when you can meet him, okay?"

"Sure." We exited the storage room and I squeezed his hand before I left his side and walked to the table where my parents were sitting and talking.

I sat down next to Mom and across from Dad. "Hey Dad. What are you doing here? This is a huge surprise," I said once I caught his attention.

"Yeah, well I thought that it was high time to visit the Gilmore girls. I wanted to see my kid, see how she was. So, kiddo how are you? How's that big, ivy-league school?" He asked with a warm smile. I was surprised, but still happy to see my dad, even on no notice.

"I'm great. School is great. I'm really happy. How are you and Sherry and Gigi?" I asked him, with the same warm smile as my mother took a sip of her coffee, watching us like a tennis match.

"Oh we're all great too. Gigi is really big, you should see her. I actually have pictures in the car. I'll show you later. Sherry is good too. So, who was that you went into the back with?" He asked with an insinuating tone, but a small smile on his face.

I smiled too, but nervously. I turned to look towards the counter and saw Jess taking Kirk's order. When I turned back to my dad, my mom was looking at me as if to ask 'are you sure you want to do this?' I ignored her withering stare and cleared my throat. "Oh, that's my boyfriend. His name is Jess. He's a really great guy, really. I know that you've heard _a_ _lot _ofthings about him; most of it isn't exactly what a father wants to hear about his daughter's boyfriend, but I am very happy and I want you to meet him. Okay?" I asked him as both my mom and I watched his reaction closely.

"Chris, he's not my favorite person by a long shot, but watch them together. He makes our daughter happy. Keep that in mind," Mom said, patting his shoulder lightly.

"Fine. Bring him over here. I'd be happy to meet him," Dad said to me and I smiled at him.

"Thank you, Dad. I'll be right back," I said before I stood up. I walked over to the counter and sat at the only free stool, which was next to Kirk. "Hi Kirk."

"Hi Rory. How are you this fine morning?" He asked while I searched the diner for Jess's body.

"I'm doing great, Kirk. How about you?"

"Oh, I'm good. I'm hungry. I don't think that your boyfriend put my order in," he said just as Jess stepped in front of my seat at the counter.

"I put your order in Kirk. We're busy, it might take a while," he said, staring directly at Kirk, clearly annoyed. He turned to face me. "So... now?"

"Yeah, just come over, I'll introduce you two, be _nice_. My dad's pretty cool, it shouldn't be that bad," I tried to assure him.

"What does he know about me?"

"Um, not much really. Just... just that you're my boyfriend and th-that you crashed my car. That's it though, like I said; not very much."

"Okay, well what he does know, doesn't exactly make me look good."

"You look great to me," I said with a smirk and a squeeze of his hand. Come on, meet him."

"Fine," he said as he rounded the counter. I met him at the end and we walked back to my table together. My dad was watching me and my mom was watching Dad. She seemed very excited to see where this introduction would go. I was more interested than excited.

"Dad, this is Jess. Jess, this is my dad, Christopher," I said once we reached the table where my father was standing.

"Hi Jess. It's good to meet you," my Dad stated before extending his hand. Jess took it hesitantly.

"It's nice to meet you too," he said, as he shook my father's hand. My dad was about to say something, but Luke's voice broke his train of thought.

"Jess, you need to get working; we're swamped," he yelled from the counter. Jess looked over at him and then back to my dad.

"Sorry, I've got to get back to work. It was nice meeting you," he said with and awkward smile, before turning back to the counter to pick up the coffee pot.

"Well, that wasn't so bad. He seems like a good enough kid," Dad said once Jess was gone.

"Yeah, well... I have to get to the inn and meet Sookie, Michel, and Tom for a meeting. Will I see you later Chris?" Mom asked, standing up and putting on her coat.

"No, I actually have to head to my parents' house before I leave and I have to leave soon. So I should actually get going now too. Sorry I couldn't stay more than a few minutes. I really just wanted to stop by and say hi," he said, with some regret in his voice.

"It's okay Dad. I have to go to Lane's new place. She just moved in with the band. I'll walk out with you guys," I told them and they smiled. I grabbed my coat and waved to Jess as we all left Luke's.

"Okay, bye you two. I'll talk to you later, Chris," my mom said as she gave him a nice hug. She kissed me on the cheek and got into her jeep.

"So, that was Jess," Dad said once Mom was out of sight.

"Yes yes. That was Jess."

"You love him," he stated, matter-of-factly.

"What? Who-? When did that happen? _What?_" I stuttered, trying to keep my balance.

"Oh, you didn't know. I could tell from the two seconds I saw you spend with each other. Don't worry, Ror, he feels the same way."

"Wow, we're getting a little ahead of ourselves here, okay? I mean, since when have you been a psychic?"

"I'm going to go. I'll call you later. I love you, kiddo," he said as he gave me a hug. I hugged him back weakly.

"Yeah, you too, Dad," I said and I watched him walk to his Volvo. He smiled one last time before speeding out of Stars Hollow. I watched him go and then I ran all the way to Lane's house. When I knocked on the door, a fresh looking Lane answered with a smile.

"Hey Rory. Come on in; man you're up early," she said as she held the door open for me.

"Yeah I know. My mom woke me up ridiculously early. But could I possibly ask you a question?" I asked nervously as I walked through the apartment, past Zach and Brian's sleeping form on their bunk beds, and into her bedroom.

She closed the door quietly and sat on her bed, waiting for me to join her. I sat down next to her and then stood up quickly. "Well, what do you need to ask me? You seem nervous," Lane said as I sat down and stood up again.

"Well, I love him," I started, and she gasped. "I know that, but you are the first person I've told. And then today, my father stops by the Hollow for, literally, five minutes, and meets Jess for like two seconds and tells me that I'm in love with him. And, oh yes, there is more. My dad also says that he's in love with me. So, my question to you is: Does Jess love me?" I asked and I finally sat down without stirring.

"Oh my God! You're in love with Jess? Since when? Why doesn't he know this?" She asked, amazed and slightly amused.

"I don't want to tell him unless he loves me too. So stop evading the question, please. Does he love me?" I asked again, but desperation was obvious in my tone.

"Rory, I don't know that for a fact. I mean, yes I work with him and I see him _a lot_, but I'm not completely sure. From what I can tell, though, he seems to love you. He always has. I honestly don't think that there has been a moment since you two have met that he hasn't been in love with you. I think you should tell him how you feel and see, for sure, how he feels," she suggested and I laid back onto her bed, she joined me and smiled at me.

"Maybe, I don't know. I just don't want to fall in love and have him disappoint me or break my heart," I said quietly, watching for an expression.

"Well, Ror, no one _wants_ that. You have to take risks, though. I mean, you love him, he deserves to know that."

"Yeah, I know. We'll see how things work out. We have plans tonight. Maybe it's a good night to bring this up. I don't know," I said, suddenly unsure of myself and my relationship with Jess. It would be a long day until our date later.


	11. There's A Slight Possibility

**AN: I wanted to have this up yesterday, sorry that it took longer than I thought. But anyways, here's the new chapter. I hope you like it. Read, Review, and Enjoy:o)**

**Diclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls!**

I was laying on the couch when my mom came running down the stairs, pulling on some sneakers at the same time. "Where are you going?" I asked as she pulled her hair into a ponytail.

"Didn't you just hear that ridiculous sound coming from my pants pocket?" She asked, now putting her jacket on haphazardly.

"No. what are you talking about, Mom?"

"Sookie's baby pager. I have to get over there. I'll call you later with details, but I probably won't be home until much later. I love you." I watched her walk to the door and I got up to follow her outside.

"Tell Sookie and Jackson that I love them. Bye Mom," I called as she waved and jumped into her jeep. I watched her pull out of the driveway and almost hit Jess, who was walking into our yard to meet me for our movie night. He turned to watch her drive away, his face showed amusement. I leaned against the door frame, waiting for him.

He walked slowly up to my porch as we watched each other. I had no idea how I was going to tell him that I loved him, but it was going to get done sometime during the night. He stopped right in front of me and slightly smiled. "Where was she going so fast at eight o'clock at night?" He asked as he put his hands in his pockets.

"Sookie's baby pager went off," I said simply.

"And why exactly does that send your mother driving 90 through the town?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It means that Sookie's having the baby," I explained.

"It's about time," he said.

"That seems to be the consensus around town. Are you coming inside?" I asked as I pulled him towards me by his jacket.

"Nice segue," he teased, as he leaned closer to me. I decided to close the gap between us and I kissed him, shyly at first, but then he deepened it and I pulled him into the house, still holding his jacket tightly in my fists. He put his arms around my waist and we carefully walked into the living room, never detaching our lips. I felt him take control of the kiss, by his tongue searching my mouth. When we reached the couch, I laid down and pulled him on top of me.

He pulled his lips away from mine, and began kissing my neck. I let go of his jacket and moved my hands to his hair. I let out a small moan when he started sucking on the spot below my ear. I let go of his hair and put my hands on his chest so that I could push him back a little. I looked into his eyes and smiled. "I need to tell you something," I said. He sat up and I sat next to him.

"What's up? You sound serious," he told me and I nodded. I curled my legs so that they were underneath me and I was sitting on top of them. He watched me. I didn't say anything, too scared of what his reaction would be like. "Rory, I won't know what you need to tell me until you actually do."

"I'm just afraid that you'll react badly to what I need to tell you."

"I don't know how I'll react unless you tell me. So, please tell me. What's up?"

I decided that it would be best not to look at him when I told him that I loved him. I thought that it would make the whole situation easier, less scary. I stared intently at the ceiling and I felt him lay his head next to mine and put a reassuring hand above my knee. I took a deep breath and he sighed, getting frustrated, but not saying anything about it.

"I think that there's a slight possibility that I might love you," I said, my voice shaky. I could feel him turn his head so that he was looking at me. I thought about what I had just said and closed my eyes, frustrated with myself. "And what I mean by that, is this. I love you." I kept my eyes closed, but I turned so that if I were to open my eyes, I would be staring into his deep brown eyes.

When I felt his breath against my mouth, I opened my eyes to see his, just as I had suspected. I looked away from his eyes and noticed that he was smirking. I was surprised when I felt his lips on mine. It was a soft kiss, it was sweet. I put my hand on his chin and pulled away, looking deeply in his eyes, my earlier confession still hanging in the air. "What are you thinking?" I asked as I rubbed his cheek with my hand.

"I think that it's safe to say that I feel the same way about you," he told me. I pulled his face to mine again and moved my hand from his chin to his stomach. Once my hands were inside of his jacket, I pulled him on top of me again as I laid down on the couch. I felt him suck on my bottom lip and I thought about how happy I was that my father had told me that Jess was in love with me. I wondered, though, why he could see it and I couldn't and how he could see that I was in love with Jess, but Jess couldn't see it. I brought my hands out of his jacket and put them around his neck, pulling him in as close as possible.

He had one of his hands pressed between the couch and the small of my back and the other resting on my stomach under my shirt. I heard the phone ringing on the desk, but I made no attempt to push Jess off of me. He pulled his face away from mine and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Shouldn't you answer that?" He asked, slightly out of breath. I ran my hands down his chest and rested them on the waist of his pants and leaned closer to him to kiss him again. He immediately responded, but I pulled away once my mother's voice filled the room.

"Rory, I suggest that you get off of your boyfriend and answer the phone so that I can inform you of the goings on here at Sookie's," she said and Jess rolled off of me. I shot him an apologetic look and interrupted my mother's ranting by picking up the phone and cutting off the answering machine.

"Hi Mom. How is she?" I asked as I brought the phone over to the couch as I sat next to Jess.

"She's okay for now. I just wanted to tell you that it's going to take a long time. I won't be home until sometime in the morning," she explained.

"Oh, okay, well, call me with details whenever something important happens and I'll meet you at her house before I head back to school," I told her.

"Okay Honey. I'll let you go. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. I love you, bye," she said.

"I love you too, Mom. See you in the morning," I said before I hung up the phone and threw it on the floor. "Sorry for the interruption."

"It's okay. There are big things going on over there, interruptions are expected," he told me and I smiled.

"Hm, I'm glad that I finally told you how I felt," I admitted.

"What do you mean by 'finally'? How long have you bee in love with me?" He asked with a grin.

"For a while now. I first realized that I was in love with you the night before I left for Europe, after we had kissed. But I had realized that I fell in love with you way before that," I told him and he nodded in understanding.

"When exactly did you fall in love with me?" He asked and he sounded so unsure of himself and of his question. I gave him a warm smile.

"I think that it was when you told me that Yale was 22.8 miles away. I just thought that it was the sweetest thing that you've ever done and you didn't even know it."

"Yeah, well what can I say?" He asked sarcastically. I gave him a small kiss and when I pulled away he gave me a soft kiss on my forehead. I sat comfortably next to him and put my arms around his upper body. He rested his arm around my shoulders and kissed the crown of my head. "Movie?"

"What do you want to watch?"


	12. Big Test

**OH MY GOD! I am so so so so sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. I didn't mean for that to happen. I know you don't want my excuses, but I've got them. First off, school started and I have to deal with that. And I'm grounded, have been for a week and will be for another week, but I'm sneaking on the computer to give you guys this chapter. I hope you like it. :o)**

As I walked into my building, I flipped open my cell phone and hit the speed dial for Jess. I was holding a book and I had my phone wedged between my shoulder and my ear as I unlocked my door and gracefully tripped over the threshold. After I had closed the front door, I heard his and Luke's answering machine pick up. I waited for the beep and began to speak into the phone while I walked into my bedroom where Paris was studying.

"Hey Jess, this is you beautiful girlfriend who sadly has some bad news. Nothing too serious, but call me as soon as you can. Okay, bye," I said and hung up. I threw the phone onto my bed and sat down at my desk with my book bag and grabbed one of my binders from it.

"What's the bad news that you need to tell him?" Paris asked. I turned to look at her and saw that her back was still turned to me.

"I can't go home this weekend because I have this big test Monday that we were just told about, and I need to study. The part he'll be mad about is the fact that we had pretty big plans to go to a concert. I also have to call Lane, because she's supposed to be getting a new guitar player for her band and she wanted me to help them out," I explained. She turned around to look at me with a bright smile.

"Well, I don't have a test on Monday, so I'm going to Princeton for Saturday to see Jamie. We have it all planned out and I should be back late Sunday night," Paris told me, genuinely sounding excited.

"That's good, Paris. You guys haven't been able to see each other much since we've started school," I told her.

"Yeah, it's definitely been hard," she said before turning back to her studies. I too turned back to my desk and opened the binder that I had previously taken out. I got to studying, but I didn't get too far, because my phone rang. I heard Paris sigh in annoyance, so I took the call into the empty living room.

"Hello?" I said into the phone as I plopped down onto the couch.

"Hey Rory. It's Lane," Lane told me. I smiled, she sounded happy.

"Hey Lane. God, it feels like we never talk to each other anymore. What's up?"

"I just wanted to call and tell you that guitar auditions have been postponed until _next _week," she explained and it made me feel so much better that I didn't have to cancel plans with her, because she had already done so.

"Well, I'll come up next weekend to help with my input, but this actually helps a lot because I have a _huge _test that I need to study for," I told her.

"Oh, well then I will definitely see you next week, but I have to get back to the diner; my breaks almost up," she explained to me.

"Okay, see you next weekend then. I can't wait," I told her, but a thought came to me. "Is Jess working today? I haven't been able to get in touch with him."

"He isn't working. I think I heard him and Luke talking about Jess' car, but I thought that it was stolen. I don't know where he is," she informed me.

"Yeah, it _was_ stolen. Oh well, I'll let you go. See you next week."

"Bye." I hung up my phone and went back into my room where Paris was closing her book and standing up from her desk.

"Where are you going?" I asked as she pulled on her jacket.

"I need to get some coffee. Want to come before you get too far into studying?" She asked me and I nodded with emphasis. When would I ever turn down a coffee run? We walked into the living room together and out of our dorm.

When we were outside, walking near one of the parking lots, Paris elbowed me in the side. "Ow, what?" I asked as I looked at her with an evil glare and held my side.

"You're such a wimp," she accused.

"You have really bony elbows, Paris," I informed her. "Why did you elbow me in the first place?"

"Oh, right. Your boyfriend's here," she said and nodded her head towards Jess.

"What?" I asked, turning to look in the direction in which she had nodded. "I'll meet you back at the dorm. When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning. It only takes a few hours. I'll see you when you get back," she said as Jess walked up to me.

"Hey," I said to him as I put my arms around his neck tightly. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd come for a visit before you have to go to dinner," he informed me before he gave me a soft kiss.

"You just got out of school an hour or so ago; that's not enough time to catch a bus and get here," I thought aloud as I started calculating time and distance in my head.

"Yeah, I know. I have alternate plans of transportation now," he informed me and I looked up at him confused.

"Want to elaborate on that, or something? Make it a little easier for me to comprehend," I suggested and he smirked as he put his arm around my waist and led me into the parking lot that we were in front of. "Where are we going Je-?" I cut my sentence short when I saw his crappy car sitting in front of me. "Oh my God! You got your car back?"

"Yeah; surprises of all surprises, Luke was the one to steal it in the first place," he told me and my mouth gaped, but then I thought that that actually made sense.

"I'm so happy that you got it back, though; even if Luke was the one to take it," I told him. He nodded as he sat on the hood of the car. I sat next to him and sighed. "So, I've been frantically calling you, but you obviously didn't get the message, because you were on your way here."

"You're babbling, Ror. What's wrong?"

"It's just that I needed to tell you that I can't come home this weekend after dinner. And I know we were supposed to be going to that concert, but I have a huge test that they just told us about. I'm _really_ sorry," I told him in one quick breath.

"Rory, these tickets were ridiculously hard to get and now you're telling me that you're not coming. That's crap, Rory. It's late tomorrow night, you'd have all day tomorrow and all day Sunday. Why can't you take tomorrow night to relax?" He asked, and he was getting more and more mad by the second.

"I said I was sorry, Jess. I can't just blow off studying. Why don't you get that? You know I'd much rather go to the concert than study my ass off for the second weekend in a row. I'd always rather be with you than be studying. But I am in _college_, Jess, and college entails a lot of studying and a lot of time. I'm sorry," I said loudly, but not quite yelling yet. "God Jess, I'm doing the best I can."

"I get that, Rory. But since I'm _not _in college, I should be probably be getting back to Stars Hollow," he told me and we got off of the car. "Don't want to be late for the town meeting." His last sarcastic remark sent him into the driver's seat of his car and me headed back to my dorm room. I walked in and Janet was watching TV with Tanna.

"Rory, what's wrong?" Tanna asked shakily.

"Nothing, I just _really _need some coffee," I told her and gave her a half-smile before waling into my bedroom. Paris hadn't gotten back yet, and I was hoping that when she did she would have a coffee for me. I got back to studying, but was far too distracted for reasons ranging from my ack of coffee and the lack of respect my boyfriend has for my higher education. After I had heard the bedroom door open close quietly, I looked up to see Paris holding two gigantic cups of coffee. "Thanks," I said as she put one down on my desk.

"You're welcome," she told me as she stripped off her coat and sat at her desk. "So, how'd it go with Jess?"

"Oh, you know; he's pissed that I can't go to the concert, which just pisses me off. We'll work it out the next time we talk," I told her, trying to convince myself.

"Yeah, I'm sure you will," Paris said skeptically, but I chose to ignore the tone in her voice and just focus on her words.

After a few hours of homework and studying, I had to get changed for Friday Night Dinner. I got dressed into a black dress and put on my jacket before taking my purse and heading towards Hartford. Once I pulled into my grandparents' driveway, i got out of my car and watched my mom pull up behind me, so I waited for her to join me outside of the door.

"So, I saw your boyfriend just before I came here, and let me tell you, he seemed more upset than usual," she said as she joined me in front of the door and rang the doorbell.

"Yeah, we had sort of a fight. It was no big deal, all will be well once again," I told her and the door opened to show a very happy Emily.

"Hello girls," She said as she took me by the elbow and guided me inside.

"Hi Grandma," I said as I took my arm back and pulled off my jacket. We all walked into the sitting room and I sat next to my mother. After our drinks were given to us, Grandma and Grandpa informed us that they were going to Paris a month earlier than expected. After dinner was done, Mom and I walked to our cars together.

"So, I'll see you at home?" Mom asked, standing at her car.

"I can't come home this weekend. I have a _lot_ of studying to do," I explained to her and she nodded in understanding.

"Which is why Jess was extremely unhappy earlier," she noted aloud.

"Exactly," I confirmed as I oped my car door and she did the same. "I'll call you tomorrow, though. Okay?"

"Sure, Sweetie. Love you."

"Love you too, Mom." We got into our cars and I waited for my mom to pull ou tbefore I did the same.

When I got home, I went to sleep immediately. Paris was leaving early in the morning, so she was asleep too; Janet was out with her boyfriend; and Tanna was watching CNN. I could haev called Jess to try and rectify our current situation, but I didn't want to apologize yet again.

I woke up the next morning to Paris rummaging through her clothes. "Paris, I thought you were all ready to leave," I said, sitting up and rubbing my face.

"I was, but then I got nervous that I wasn't so, I'm double checking everything. Go back to sleep," she told me.

"I won't be able until the craziness has left the building," I told her falling back onto my bed. "Wait, oyu were supposed to leae hours ago," I informed her once I had caught sight of my alarm clock. It was already nine.

"I know, Rory, but I told you about double checking, so that's what I've been doing," She said as she zipped her bag up. She put on her coat, picked up her bag and looked at me. "I'll see you tomorrow. Bye."

"Bye, Paris," I said while I watched her walk into the living room. I got out of bed and went into the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror and cringed at the sight of my morning hair. After I had washed my face and brushed out my hair, I got dressed into my comfy Yale sweats. Of course, I made some coffee right away, but very soon after, I started studying.

About an hour into studying and a pot and a half of coffee later, my cell phone started to ring. "Hello?" I said, distracted, still studying.

"Rory, honey, it's Mom."

"Hey Mom," I said, putting my book aside for the time being. "What's up?"

"I know you're really busy studying, but I think you should come home for at least a little while," she said, starting to whisper.

"Why?" I asked, starting to get worried.

"Well, your boyfriends mother just moseyed into town, and he seems ten times more upset than he was yesterday. Luke was actually the one who asked me to call you," she told me and I sighed, standing up from my desk.

"Okay, I'll come home for a few hours."


	13. Mom Comes to Town

**AN: Okay, here is the next chapter. I hope you like it. This may be a little random, but I'm doing a Graphics Design project, and I want to design a CD booklet for a Rory/Jess mix, so I was wondering what some songs should be listed. If you want to help that'd be great. If not, that's cool too. Thanks. Read, Review, Enjoy :o)**

**disclaimer: I own nothing.**

I walked into the diner and looked for my mother. She spotted me first and waved me over. The place was busy, and there were at least three female faces that I had never seen before. When I sat down with my mother I asked, "Where is he?"

"Over there," she said as she pointed to the counter where. Sure enough, Jess was standing with his back turned to one of the new faces. Neither of them were talking and Luke was coming over to the table. Before Luke got to our table, I took a long sip of my mom's coffee and waited for Luke to say something.

"Thanks for coming. I didn't tell him that I asked your mother to call you. I figured that you guys were in a fight because he was in a really bad mood last night and now with his mother in town, he's even worse. I figured you could do something to make him feel better or at least you could talk to him better than I can," Luke said.

"Is his mom here?" I asked as I looked around. I figured that she would be trying to talk to him or get his attention. When I turned back to look where he was standing before, I saw him walking behind the curtain and up the stairs to the apartment. I looked back at Luke as he began to answer my question.

"No, she went to pick her boyfriend up from the motel that they're staying at. She just left a few minutes ago, so it might take her a while to get back here," Luke told me and I nodded. I looked over at my mom for some advice.

"Go talk to him. Even if you're mad at each other; talk to him," she told me as she put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"Okay, I'm going to go upstairs and talk to him. I'll see what I can do," I told them awkwardly. I walked to the curtain and turned back to see Luke and Mom still talking and I continued walking up the stairs.

When I reached the top of the stairs and the door to the apartment, I knocked and waited for an answer or for him to open the door, but he did no such thing. I slowly opened the door for myself and saw him sitting on his bed with a book. When I closed the door, he looked up from his book and sighed. He didn't say anything so I sat next to him on his bed, hoping he'd start the conversation or at least acknowledge my presence. He did neither, so I took the book out of his hands, hoping he wouldn't get angry. He didn't, he just leaned his head against the wall behind his bed.

"You're acting like a two year old," I told him and he scowled at me and shrugged. "Fine, don't talk to me. I came when I heard that your mother was in town and that you weren't happy about it."

"I can't deal with her crap anymore. Coming to Stars Hollow with her new boyfriend, trying to act like she didn't force me to move here in the first place, saying that she's cleaned up her act; which she seems like she has, but still. She can't just come here and piss me off. That's not okay," he said, looking at the ceiling. I wanted to have him come back to Yale with me. I felt bad for him; I know how he feels about his mother. I wasn't sure that it would be okay with Luke or if he would even want to, or if my mom would mind, but I decided to bring it up anyways.

"If you want, and if it's okay with Luke, you can spend the day at Yale. I mean, you're going to have to let me study, but if it will help you calm down, then it's fine with me. You can come back here tonight or even in the morning. Paris is gone for the night," I told him and he looked at me with a thoughtful look. "But I do think that you should talk to your mom before she leaves. I know that it's none of my business, but I _do _think that."

"Are you sure that you want me to come? Because I would much rather be anywhere than here right now," he told me and I smiled.

"I don't mind, but I _will _be studying. You can watch TV with Tanna or read a book or use my computer, but I. Will. Be. Studying. Okay?"

"Okay, I'll go talk to Luke. Thank you," he said before he kissed my forehead and walked towards the door. I followed him to the door and out of the apartment until we reached the diner and we saw that Luke and Mom were still talking. We walked to the table and I sat down next to my mom as Jess stood next to Luke. Jess nodded towards the kitchen and they walked away together.

"What was that about? Seemed very covert," Mom told me as we watched them disappear into the back.

"Not really. Jess doesn't want to deal with his mom right now, so I suggested that he come to Yale with me. He can keep himself busy there while I study. He said that he would come back tomorrow and try to talk to his mom. Now, he just wants to make sure it's okay with Luke," I explained to her, and I could tell just by her face that she didn't like the idea.

"He'd be spending the night there? What about your roommates?"

"Tanna will barely notice him and Janet will most likely be out with _her _boyfriend and Paris is gone for the night. He can sleep in her bed and I can clean her sheets for her so she won't notice his scent. Or I could sleep in her bed. I really don't think that they'll mind. If it's a big deal, I'll make sure he's okay to come back tonight."

"Okay," she said, defeated, but then looked at me. "I hate that you are a consenting adult, you know that?"

"Yeah, but I love you for it," I informed her and she smilesdbefore she took a sip of her coffee. "Can I have some of that? I haven't had any since I left my dorm and I need it like air on my studying days."

"Of course, Sweetie," she answered me and I gave her a gracious smile before bringing the cup to my lips. "Can I ask you a question?" I took a quick sip and looked back at her and nodded before taking another small sip. "Aren't you and Jess fighting?"

"Yeah, but I don't want him to have to deal with his mom right now if he's not in the mood to. Plus, it wasn't a big one," I told her and she nodded apprehensively. "And if I feel the need, I'll kick him out," I added and she smiled.

"Good," she said with a smile as Jess and Luke exited the kitchen. They sauntered over to where we were sitting and Luke looked at me.

"So?" I asked, looking up at them expectantly.

"He needs to be home tomorrow before they leave," Luke said and I nodded.

"I promise I will kick him out of my dorm tomorrow morning. No later than noon, is that okay?" I asked.

"That's fine. I'd leave if you want to miss Liz," he suggested. I nodded.

"I'll be down in a minute," Jess said before walking to the apartment.

"I'm going outside to wait. Bye Mom. I'll talk to you later tonight," I said as I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Bye Babe," she said as I stood up from the table.

"Bye Luke, I'll see you next weekend. Thanks for letting Jess come," I told him and he smiled.

"It's probably for the best right now; he was about to jump down her throat anyways; just make sure he's okay tomorrow if you can?" He asked, unsure of himself.

"I will do everything to keep him calm before he gets back to Stars Hollow. Bye," I said and both Mom and Luke smiled at me. I smiled back and walked outside to wait by my car.

I watched Jess nod to Luke as he walked through the diner to the door. Mom and Luke watched both of us through the window and I shook my head in amusement. "What?" Jess asked once he saw me shaking my head.

"Nevermind," I said, focusing my attention on him. "Is it okay if you take your car adn I take mine. That way I'll be able to study all day tomorrow."

"Yeah, I was planning on it anyways. I'll see you there," he said as he opened the passenger door of his car and threw in a plastic bag that he brought with him downstairs.

"Okay, I'll see you in a little while then," I told him and we both got into the driver's side of our cars. As we drove away, I was thinking about how much studying I would actually get in with Jess at my dorm. It wasn't going to be very much, I knew that the second I invited him to come, but I still thought that it was the right thing to do. The drive to Yale was pretty quick because there was no traffic. My music filled the whole car until I shut it off in my usual parking space.

I got out of my car just in time to see Jess pull up in the spot next to me. I waited for him to exit his car and when he did, he gave me a hug. I was surprised, but I hugged him back and he kissed the crown of my head as he lowered his arms from the back of my shoulders to my waist. "I'm sorry about yesterday," he told me and I showed him my happy face.

"I am too. But, it's over now. Time to move on," I told him and he gave me a soft kiss. It was quick, but I savored it the best I could. When he pulled away, I licked my lips. "Let's go."

"Okay, one second," he told me as he let go of me. I watched him walk around to the passenger side and take out the plastic bag. He put his arm around my shoulders and I put my arm around his back once he stood next to me again. We started walking towards my dorm together and I laid my head on his shoulder.

"Are you going to be okay tomorrow? You know, when you go back to StarsHollow to talk to your mom?" I asked him and I could feel him turn to look down at me quickly.

"Probably not, but I'll go and deal with her and she'll deal with me and, I don't know, I'll figure it out," he told me. I nodded as I lifted my head from his shoulder. We walked through the doors that bring us inside my building and we let go of each other as I fished my keys from of pocket. He watched me from behind and by the time I unlocked the door he was standing directly behind me, breathing against my neck.

I turned to face him. "Distracting," I accused and he smiled sideways which caused me to smile.

"You unlocked the door; didn't you?" He asked and I nodded. "Then, I can't be that much of a distraction. Right?"

"No, I guess not, but you can't distract me or anybody else who happens to be studying today. Okay? That is very important," I warned him and his face turned mock-serious and he nodded. "You can sit on my bed and read or use my computer or listen to my i-Pod."

"I understand. Can I just say something really quick?" He asked and I nodded. He put his hand to my cheek and guided my face to his and he kissed me softly. I pulled away and I rested my forehead to his and smiled.

"Good speaking skills," I commented and he inwardly laughed.

"Thanks very much," he said and kissed my cheek and pulled his head from mine and opened the door for me. I smiled at him and walked in and waited for him to do the same and close the door behind us.

"Hey Tanna," I said as I walked past her on the couch with the TV on and a book on her lap.

"Oh, hi Rory. Hi Jess," she said as she looked up from her book. I looked back at Jess who waved.

"We'll be in my room. Okay?"

"Okay. Bye you guys," she said and I smiled as I took Jess's hand and dragged him away from the TV and into my bedroom.

"Okay, I have to change first," I told him as I grabbed the sweats I changed out of before leaving for Stars Hollow. "I'll be right back. Stay on my bed, that way I won't have to clean her sheets. Okay?"

"Alright," he said as he laid on my bed and took a book out of his back pocket. I smiled at him and walked to the small bathroom and got changed quickly. After I threw the clothes I changed out of, into the hamper, I walked back into my bedroom and sat at my desk where my book was open to where I left it.

I jumped right into studying and I heard Jess kick off his shoes as they hit the ground one at a time. My bed creaked at the pressure of his feet resting back onto the matress and I focused on the words as the silence filled my room. The only sounds were the flipping of pages or me writing notes out and Jess writing notes in the margins of whatever book he was reading that day.

About an hour into studying, I heard Jess close his book. After I finished the sentence I had been re-writing, I turned to look at him. "What are you doing?" I asked when I saw him sitting up and putting his shoes on lazily.

"I want to get something to eat. Want some coffee?" He asked as he stood behind my computer chair and swirled it around so that I was facing him. He sat down on the foot of my bed so that we were face to face.

"Yes, please. But I'll come with you. It might be better for me to spread the studying out slowly. Know what I mean?" I asked him and he shook his head 'no.'

"I'm not exactly a studying kind of guy, so I wouldn't know the logistics, but I believe you," he told me and I kissed his cheek as I stood up and took hold of his hand to pull him up. I slipped on a pair of flip flops and walked into the living room as Jess pulled on his jacket and followed me out. Tanna was no longer on the couch and Janet wasn't in the dorm either.

I pulled Jess's arm aroud my shoulders so that we were in our normal walking postition and he tightened his grip to keep me close. "Where do you want to get food?"

"I don't care."

"Well, do you want to go to a cart on campus or do you want to go to Hector's?"

"The taco place?"

"Obviously," I told him in a duh tone. He looked down at me as we kept walking and smiled at me.

"Hector's sounds great," he said as we reached our cars.

"Want to take your car? I don't like eating in mine and plus, it'd be hard for me to eat and drive," I informed him and we leaned against the hood of his car.

"Okay, whatever you say," he told me and I smiled gratefully at him. He walked to the passenger side door and opened it for me. I climbed in and watied for him to reach the driver's side before reaching over an unlocking his door for him. We put on our seatbelts and he drove off towards Hector's while I gave him directions.


	14. The Big One

**AN: Sorry it took me awhile to get this chapter up. It's a big one, though, and I wanted to get it as good as I could get. I'm not sure how I like it just yet, but hopefully you do. Feedback and reviews would be greatly appreciated (as always) :o)!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO _NOT_ OWN ONE THING AT ALL!**

I woke up on the opposite side of the room that I normally do. It wasn't even time to get up yet, it was two in the morning and Jess was getting out of bed and heading to the bathroom in baggy sweatpants and no shirt. I wriggled out of Paris' bed and tip-toed to my own where I was used to sleeping and was on the correct side of the bedroom. I sat up far enough so that I was sure he would be able to see me once he walked back into my room.

I could see the exhaustion in his eyes when he walked back into my bedroom. He didn't notice me until he was a half a foot away from my bed, and when he did notice, he almost fell back. I smiled at him to lighten the mood and he nodded as he sat on the foot of the bed.

"Rory, what are you doing?" Jess asked me as he laid across the bottom of my bed on his back.

"I can't sleep on that side of the room, it's unfamiliar. I need you to go and sleep on the couch," I explained to him and he let out a deep sigh.

"First of all, it's freezing out there. Second of all, what if one of your roommates were to see me? That would be a little awkward," he told me.

"Well, I have one easy solution for both of those problems. Put a shirt on," I told him and he lightly laughed. I laughed too. "Plus, Tanna sleeps until noon on Sundays and Janet spent the night with her boyfriend, so you'd just need to get up relatively early."

"I can't help but notice that we've already spent the night on the same piece of furniture before," he said quietly and then perched himself onto his elbows.

"That was by accident and you had a shirt on," I reminded him and he nodded.

"Okay, that is all true, but... I have no argument. I'll see you in the morning," he said to me and he began to get up. I pulled on his arm until he was leaning over me. I leaned foward and let go of his arm. I brought my hand to his neck and pulled his head towards mine and kissed him. When he kissed me back, I felt his hand move to the side of my stomach and felt butterflies throughout my entire body at the feel of his touch. A second later, I felt both of his hands resting on my stomach and I shivered at their temperature, they were warm which was the opposite of the freezing air flowing throughout my room.

His hands moved to the small of my back and I sat up and pulled him onto my bed so that he was lying next to me. I laid half on him and half on the bed and we continued kissing and he pulled me so that I was completely on top of him. I kissed his chest and his skin constricted and then relaxed. When I kissed his lips again, he brought his hands to the side of my face and then ran them down the sides of my body. What was intended to be a goodnight kiss, was quickly turning into much more than that once I felt him attempt to take off my t-shirt. It became even more intense when I straddled him and watched him completely take it off and then leaned down, bare chest to bare chest, to kiss him again.

We both sighed into the kiss as he hooked and arm around my waist and swiftly maneuvered the both of us so that he was now above me. I reached, with my hands, to touch the back of his neck and brought them all of the way down his chest and stomach. Once I reached the waist band of his pants, I snaked my arms around to his back and pulled him to lay on top of me completely. He bent his head down to kiss my neck and then he pulled away and placed his mouth next to my ears.

"Do you want this _now_?" He asked me and his voice was low and husky and it made me realize that I _really _did want it.

I nodded against his neck and it all happened so fast. Thankfully, I remembered where Paris kept her condoms, though she would get angry at me for taking some. I also felt a little bad because I promised my mom that I would talk to her before it happened. The last time I had talked to her was before I went to bed and I assured her that I was sleeping in Paris' bed and that Jess had already fallen asleep in my own. I said nothing of having sex with Jess, granted, I didn't know that it would happen. Damn my inability to not kiss him.

I'd have to tell her in the morning, once Jess had left for Stars Hollow, but I was a little nervous to leave him with my mom until Friday. She'd be sad that I had finally done it, but I knew that it was right. I knew that I loved him. In the back of my mind, though, I thought that maybe the timing wasn't the best; he was so upset over his mom bombarding his life and I was crazy busy with school. I don't regret it, though, and even if I did, there'd be no point to it.

I woke up the next morning from the sun threatening to get through my curtains. I slightly jerked awake and I notcied I was still in my bed, but surely not alone. I was laying on my side, while Jess was laying on his back, and my right leg was resting between his two legs and my head was rested against his shoulder and his head had fallen to the side and was resting against my temple. I gently moved my head away from his body and watched as his slowly turned away. I was wearing the sweatpants that he had worn to bed and my t-shirt, he was wearing his boxers. The sight of him, in my bed, in his _boxers _made my breath catch in my throat for a second. I started breathing again and craned my neck to look at the clock on my bedside table. It was only eight; I had promised Luke that Jess would be back on his way to Stars Hollow by noon.

I plopped back down on the bed and felt Jess stir awake next to me. I stayed still, nervous for what the conversation would be like. It took him a second to come to, but when he did, he reached for my wiast and pulled me close to him. I looked up at him and he was doing that whole smirking thing that made me want to jump his bones all over again. I smiled up at him and leaned over to kiss him. He pulled me closer and intensified the kiss until I pulled away for air and I watched him. He was looking at me, and we still hadn't talked since we woke up, and it was making me nervous, so I sat up in bed and he looked up at me with confusion.

"We had sex in the middle of the night," I blurted out and he tried his best to suppress a smirk, but it wouldn't go away and it made the situation less threatening, I guess. "Sorry." I looked down at my lap and I felt him sit up.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked and I looked up to see that he was completely serious.

"No, I just wanted to make sure that it was real. I think that's what I was doing anyways."

"Oh, it was real," he told me quietly and with another smirk appearing on his face. "It was real."

"You have to leave in a few hours, and when you're gone, I have to call my mom. After I call my mom, she'll know that we had sex last night and you will be stuck in Stars Hollow with her until Friday. My advise is to keep away from her at all costs," I warned him and he laughed quietly and nodded.

"I will do my best, but she'll probably come looking for me. Not to mention the fact that you're probably going to tell Lane and I'll deal with her at work. Oh well, you get you get for dating, and or, sleeping with a Gilmore girl," he said and I nodded at him. He looked at the clock and sighed at how early it was. "Do you want to go get some breakfast?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll be back in a minute," I told him and then I grabbed some clean clothes from my bureau and walked to the bathroom. In the bathroom, I got dressed and went to the bathroom. I also washed my hands and brushed my teeth. I left the bathroom and shut the light off and walked back into my bedroom.

Jess was now fully dressed, but laying back on my bed with his arm lying over his eyes. I walked over to the bed quietly and laid next to him and he moved his arm and looked down at me with a sleepy look and I kissed his cheek. He put his arms around me and pulled me so that I was laying on top of him and we looked into each other's eyes.

"Hi," he said and I laughed at him and buried my face in his chest. "What are you laughing at?" He asked and started to tickle me and I began squirming uncontrollablely and laughing even more so. He stopped tickling me and I began to calm down. "Well?"

"You really need to brush your teeth," I told him as I lifted my head to look at his face and he nodded. I smiled at him and he rolled us over and he propped himself above me and kissed my nose before rolling off of the bed and walking out of my room with a toothbrush he had brought with him. I laid back in bed and then noticed that I had never made Paris' bed, so I walked across the room and did it quickly and as perfectly as I could. Had to fix everything relating to Paris just right so that she wouldn't have a 'Paris attack.'

I grabbed my shoes off of the floor and sat on the bed to put them on. I heard my door open and then Jess laid across my bed on his stomach on the right side of my body. He rested his head on my thigh and his left hand was underneath my shirt, rubbing the small of my back in small, soft circles. I finished putting my shoes on and I ran my hand through his hair and he stood from the bed and walked around to stand in front of me and put his hand out for me to hold onto as he pulled me up.

"Are you ready, Miss Rory Gilmore?" He asked me and I smiled as he pulled me.

"Why, yes I am, Mr. Jess Mariano," I told him before he pinned me against my door and ran his hands down the sides of my body as he kissed me passionately. "Let's go," I said once the kiss was over and I was smiling a goofy smile.


	15. Dun Dun Dun

**an: Okay, here's the next chapter. It cam pretty easily to me, so I hope you all like it. Read, Review, and Enjoy:o)**

**disclaimer: I honestly don't own Gilmore Girls. **

After Jess had left my dorm, I paced around the empty common room, preparing to call my mom. I had already started to dial her number four times, but stopped before I got the the fifth digit and continued my pacing. Jess had already been gone twenty minutes and would be in Stars Hollow to face his mother in about another twenty minutes and I wanted to talk to my mother before she saw Jess. I just had to work up the courage to actually dial those last few digits.

I finally sat down on the couch that my grandmother had bought for my dorm and took a deep breath before opening my cell phone. I dialed all seven of the numbers in my mom's cell phone and listened to it ring. After the ringing had subsided and my mother's overly cheery voice answered, I sighed and right away she knew what I had to tell her.

"You slept with him. I was afraid this was going to happen. Were you at least safe? Why didn't you tell me? Did he force you? I'll kill that little-"

"Mom, calm down. Yes, I slept with him. Yes, we were safe. I didn't tell you because I had no idea it was going to happen, it was a spontaneous decision and I always meant to tell you before hand and I'm sorry that I didn't. He definitely did _not _force me. I was the one that initiated the kiss that began it all," I told her and we both sighed. "I _really _am sorry that I didn't tell you first."

"I know, Sweetie. I'm just taking this all in right now. I also really wish that I wasn't hearing this over the phone. This is a conversation that should be had face to face," she told me and I had to agree, but there was no way that I could have driven all of the way to Stars Hollow just to tell her and come back to Yale to study until late into the night before the test.

"I know, Mom. I wish I could be talking to you about this in person, but I really can't be. I called now because Jess left a little while ago and I wanted you to know before you went to the diner and, like, read it from his facial expressions or something," I told her and I could hear her chuckle a little from wherever she had been.

"I'm good, Sweets, but I'm not that good," she told me and it was my turn to chuckle slightly. "I'm guessing that you would prefer if I didn't bring it up in any conversation with anybody."

"You'd be guessing correctly. And if it's not too much to ask, please don't give Jess any withering stares. He's a little nervous of what you're going to do the next time you see him."

"I'm not going to look at him any differently, at least not noticeably. I'm on my way to Luke's right now and I promise, Hon, that I will be on my best behavior. We have to talk more about this on Friday when I can actually see you, okay?"

"Okay, Mom. I promise that we will talk more about this on Friday. After dinner, do you want to have a movie night, just me and you?"

"That sounds great. I'm going to let you get to studying, though. I love you, Kid."

"I love you too, Mom." I hung up the phone and sat stiff on the couch until, my nerves calmed down. As soon as I took my very needed deep breath, I walked into my bedroom and made my bed; it still smelled like him, so I sat down with my books, notebooks, highlighter, and pen and studied.

It wasn't very long until my cellphone, which was sitting on the table next my bed, began to ring. I sighed and picked it up to look who was calling and smiled at the picture of Jess, indicating his call. "Hey," I said, laying back comfortably.

"I don't want to go back downstairs and deal with my mother and the prize she's chosen for a boyfriend. I can't do it, Rory. I really can't," he responded, and I almost wanted to laugh at his distress, but decided it was best not to.

"Jess, it won't be that bad. She won't be there much longer, and I think that you should give both her and her boyfriend a chance before you write them off completely."

"It will be _that _bad, but I'll let you go and study. I'll go back down there and be as civil as humanly possible while dealing with Liz. I'll call you tomorrow night," he told me and I nodded, and then remembered that he couldn't see me.

"Okay, I'll talk to you then. Don't be an asshole with your mom, just listen to what she has to say. And maybe make an upbeat comment every once in a while," I suggested and I heard him sigh.

"Goodbye, Rory," he said to me and I smiled at his tone of annoyance and understanding mixed into one.

"Bye Jess," I said and then hung up. I got back to studying and soon after turned my cellphone off to make sure I would have no more interruptions.

Friday night, I headed to Hartford for Friday Night Dinner and to physically face my mother for the first time since I had slept with Jess. He had called on Monday like he said he would and I called him on Thursday to tell him about my plans for my weekend home. Friday was dinner and the promised movie night with my mom that I had been looking very forward to all week. Saturday, during the day, I was hanging out in Lane's living room with Lane and the band to watch guitar auditions, and Saturday night, Jess and I were hanging out while my mom was at Sookie's with Michel to go over some Dragonfly business. Sunday, I was going to hang out with Mom until lunch, then the rest of the afternoon, I was probably going to spend with Jess, and I'd have a quick bite to eat at Luke's with my mom, before leaving for Yale again.

Luckily, I would only be at Yale Monday and Tuesday due to Thanksgiving break; Wednesday through the week after, where I would spend all of my time in Stars Hollow. Everyone was telling me that I needed a break and with one coming, I had to agree. College was hard, extremely hard. Despite how much I loved the experience and everything else about Yale, nothing would beat the extreme feeling of content that I felt every time I drive into Stars hollow.

I drove up the long driveway guiding me to my grandparents' house and saw my mom's car, but it was dark, meaning she had already gone inside. I got out of my car and stuffed my cellphone into my purse and hugged my coat around me tighter as I walked to the front door. I rang the doorbell and waited about fifteen seconds before a new maid answered and ushered me inside. "Thank you," I said as she showed me to the sitting room where Mom, Grandma, Grandpa, and Jason were sitting talking. Well, Jason and Mom were talking with each other and Grandma and Grandpa were talking.

"Hey, Sweetie," mom said when she noticed me, and my grandparents and Jason both stood to greet me.

"Hi, everyone," I said as I hugged my grandparents and then shook Jason's hand. I sat down next to my mother as Jason sat on the other side and Grandpa got me a soda.

"So, Rory, how is school going?" Grandma asked me and I told her all about my classes and some of my paper assignments that I was working on. She and Grandpa already knew about everything I had previously written, they had them all in a scrapbook.

"And, how is that boyfriend of your's that I have never met?" Grandpa asked and I could hear my mother sigh from next to me.

"He's doing very well. He works a lot and he's at school, so, uh, he's good, Grandpa," I responded somewhat nervously.

"Well, when do I get to meet him? I'm very interested in what you've told me about him, even despite everything Emily has told me," he said and my mother sighed again, but more quietly and more to herself and I gave her a look that said that I was okay with the conversation.

"Grandpa, I'm not really sure. He's busy with school and work, but maybe I could convince him to attend another dinner here some Friday," I suggested, my voice wavering from being unsure of my suggestion and how Jess would feel about it.

"I think that is a brilliant idea, Rory. You'll call me sometime this week to tell me what he has to say?"

"Yes, of course, Grandpa," I said and sighed into my glass of coke. Mom took a sip of her martini and patted my knee in the process.

Dinner went by slowly, as usual, and me, Mom, and Jason left with the elder Gilmores watching until we reached our cars.

"Lorelai, Rory, it was a pleasure to see you again," Jason told us and it was so obvious that he had a thing for my mom, but my mom stuck to her decision of 'hating him,' even though I could tell she thought he was a nice addition to dinners sometimes. They were a lot alike, their funny quirks and their smart remarks, but my mother would never give in to be his friend, especially anything more than that.

"Yeah, we'll see you soon, _Jason_," my mom said and he nodded at her and extended his hand to me.

"Rory."

"Goodnight, Jason," I said as I took his hand and shook it. My mother and I watched him walk to his car and drive away. "You don't have to be so cold to him all of the time, you know. He really is a nice guy."

"He's Jason Stiles. Enough said, Rory. You try to convince me to be friendlier to him every time we see him, and I keep trying to tell you that Jason and I will never be friends. He's Jason. _Digger._ I can't be his friend, I _won't _be his friend," she told me and I nodded.

"Okay, Mom. See you at home?" I asked and she nodded, a smile now developing on her face.

"I already have some amazing movie choices for us to pick from and I went junk food shopping earlier today. I just need you to stop by Luke's and buy a thing of fries and I thought I'd be nice and let you see Jess," she told me and I smiled.

"Thanks, I greatly appreciate it. I'll meet you there, then. We'll talk before movies, okay?"

"Okay, Sweets. I'll see you in a bit," she said and we got into our cars. Since I was behind her, I drove away first and turned on my music. I turned it up and savored every syllable of every lyric until I reached Stars Hollow.

I pulled up to the diner and walked in. I looked around the almost deserted diner. I saw Kirk, Babette and Morey, Luke, and Jess, who seemed to be doing something for school. He was sitting at the end of the counter on a stool, with his back turned to me, so i sat next to him and nodded at Luke. Jess flinched when he felt my presence and he turned his head to look at me.

"Could you possibly be doing homework?" I asked him and he smirked before kissing me softly.

"Actually, yes. I am, it's not a big deal," he told me and I nodded.

"Luke, could I get two burgers and some fries to go?" I asked and he nodded.

"Didn't you just get back from dinner at your grandparents' house?" Jess asked me when Luke gave my order to Caesar.

"Yeah, but it's movie night and there is no such thing as too much to eat when it's movie night. You know that," I reminded him and he shrugged.

"I didn't think I was going to see you until tomorrow afternoon," he said and I shrugged.

"I didn't either, but Mom sent me here on an errand; and of course I agreed to do it."

"Good," he said and leaned closer to kiss me properly; longer and more passionate. He brought his hand to the back of my head before pulling away, and he smoothed the back of my hair down. "Your food is going to be done soon," he told me and nodded to Luke who was boxing up the burgers.

"I know, but I'll probably see you in the morning. I mean, my mom and I have to eat breakfast, right?"

"Of course, and neither of you are going to cook it."

"Exactly," I said as Luke put two Styrofoam boxes in front of me. "Thank you, Luke."

"No problem. I'll see you and your mom tomorrow," he said and I smiled.

"Bye," I said and stood up. Luke walked over to Kirk and Jess stood up next to me. "What are you doing?"

"I'm walking you to your car," he said and put his arm around my back. I carried my stuff to my car and put them on the roof before sliding my arms around Jess's neck and kissing him. He put his hands on my waist and kissed back, leaning into me before I pulled away regretfully.

"I have to get home," I told him and he nodded quietly. "I'll see you tomorrow, though."

"Okay. I'll see you then," he said and kissed me one last time before removing his hands from my body.


	16. He Does

**AN: Here is the new chapter. I hope you liked it. I like how it came out, if that's any consolation. Well, read it and tell me what you think:o)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the idea.**

I was sitting on the lone couch in Lane's living room, watching the band and the guitar auditions. Everything sounded amazing... except the younger guy _attempting _to play guitar. Lane was cringing with every chord he struck, Zach was so close to, literally, throwing him out the front door, and Brian tried his best to keep from laughing. I too, was close to exploding with laughter. All of a sudden, Lane stopped playing her drums, causing everyone else to stop along with her, and Zach let out a sigh of relief. Adam, the wannabe new guitarist, was smiling happily and I felt a little bad because we all knew he would not make the cut. Lane got out from behind her drums and stood in front of him, extending her hand. He happily took it.

"Thanks for coming, Adam. We'll call you about it later," she said and Brian nodded from behind her.

"Thanks, guys. I'll be looking forward to your call," he said and unplugged his guitar from his amp. We all watched him with sad eyes and he tipped his imaginary hat before exiting the house.

"We are never going to find a guitarist, guys," Lane whined as she joined me on the couch with a sad plop. "That was the fifth guy in two hours that auditioned and they've all really sucked."

"I don't have the energy to keep looking for someone to replace my best friend while my best friend is in stupid California in stupid college," Zach said, also collapsing on the couch and I silently hoped that Brian would opt for the floor, because if he too sat on the couch, my breathing would become slow and unsteady.

"It's not his fault Zach, we discussed this _months _ago. It was something that he needed to do. You can't be mad at him and California and college forever. We need to find a guitarist, guys; obviously, though, we won't find one today," Brian complained as he cleaned up the practice area. Lane's head fell on my shoulder and I patted her knee.

"Well, thanks for coming, Rory. Sorry you had to sit through all of that crap," she said, sitting up and looking at me.

"You guys were _great_, I'm just sorry that someone else couldn't be for you," I told her and Zach nodded from his seat next to Lane. "Listen, though, I'll be in Stars Hollow Wednesday through the weekend after, so anytime you have auditions, I'll be happy to sit in on some and give you my opinions."

"Thanks, I'll call you," Lane told me and I had _just _remembered that I never told her about me and Jess.

"You're working today, right?" I asked and she nodded. "Soon?" She nodded again, getting confused. "Could I talk to you in your room before you leave? It's _very _important." She stood up before answering and I stood up next to her and we walked into her bedroom without saying one more word.

"Spill," she blurted out and sat on her bed, pulling me to sit next to her. I took a deep breath, which seemed to catch her off guard and her face showed just how intrigued she was.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about this earlier, but after I told my mom on the phone, I realized that I didn't want to do that with you too," I started and she nodded, because she knew that I wasn't close to finished. "I don't know if you knew about Jess's mom showing up on Saturday, but she did and Jess was extremely upset. I came to town, for about half an hour, to see if he was okay, and he really wasn't. I suggested that he come stay with me at Yale. Paris was gone and I was sleeping in her bed and Jess was sleeping in mine, but I felt strange and I couldn't fall asleep, so I snuck into my bed when Jess was in the bathroom. When he came back, we talked and he was about to go sleep somewhere else, but I stopped him and we definitely... slept together. In my bed, in the middle of the night," I finished with a deep breath and I wish that the whole world could have seen Lane's expression because it was priceless.

"Oh, man," she said breathlessly, before looking at me again and shaking her head in disbelief. Her stunned silence turned to abrupt, shrieking questioning. "How did it happen? Was he nice to you? How did it feel? Did it feel good? Have you talked to him since? Were you nervous? Jeez, Rory, was it everything that you imagined?"

I laughed lightly at her reaction and I put my hands up to stop her questioning so that I could answer what she had already asked. "It happened really fast, but he _was _nice about it and even asked my permission. It felt new and scary at first, but it did feel good, I can't lie about that," I told her while I laughed nervously. "I've talked to him a few times. I wasn't really nervous until the next morning when we woke up and I had no idea how to react. I mean, I was in _his _sweatpants and my t-shirt. When I looked over at him, all he was wearing was his boxers, and Lane, believe me: Jess looks very good in boxers."

"I bet he does. But, was it everything you had imagined?" She whispered and I nodded silently with a far away look in my eye thinking of it again, but I quickly snapped back to the reality that I was still talking with Lane.

"Wow... just, wow," she said and I nodded in agreement. She glanced quickly at the alarm clock next to her bed. "Walk me to work?"

"Sure, I have to meet Jess there anyways," I told her and she smiled and nudged me. "Jeez, Lane, get your head out of the gutter." She laughed and stood up. We left her room and walked past Zach and Brian. Lane announced that she was going to work, but they waved her off, distractedly, while they continued their video game. We walked out of her house and I pulled my jacket tighter; it was getting colder and colder each day. Snow would be coming soon and snow always brought the best things with it.

Lane and I talked about smaller subjects than my non-virginal self up until we reached the sidewalk outside of the diner. She spotted Jess walk upstairs and put her arm up to stop me. "Are you nervous to face him?" She asked and I remembered that I never told her that I had seen him the night before.

"No, I had to come here last night to get sustenance for movie night last night and we saw each other. It wasn't awkward at all. I _was _nervous that it might have been, but thankfully it wasn't," I explained and she nodded in understanding and we continued walking into the diner. She walked behind the counter and put on an apron. "I'll talk to you later. I'm going to go upstairs."

"Okay. Have fun," she said and winked as Luke walked out from the kitchen. I rolled my eyes at Lane and turned towards Luke.

"Is it okay if I go get Jess?" I asked him and he looked up from his stack of receipts.

"Yeah, that's fine. Do you two have plans?" He asked and I nodded.

"Sort of, we're hanging out, but we're not sure of what we're going to do," I explained and he nodded. I smiled and walked behind the counter to get to the stairs.

When I reached the door, I knocked and leaned against the door frame, waiting for him to answer. I heard something crash and watched as opened the door, carefully rubbing his elbow with a look of pain on his face.

"What did you do?" I asked when he looked at me. He moved aside to let me through the door and I sat on the couch as he followed behind me.

"I hit my funny bone on the table when I tripped over the chair," he explained as he sat next to me and finally let go of his arm.

"Clumsy today?" I asked him and he shrugged. I looked at him as he looked straight ahead, and I decided that I didn't want to sit around today. I wanted to do something fun. "We should do something today."

"What do you want to do?" He asked me, and I was stumped. I thought about it for a few seconds and I knew that I needed to be outside, at least until it got dark and even more cold. He was watching me as I thought of something to do and I almost broke under his gaze, but then I thought of something that I hadn't done in so long, and I figured that Jess had _never _done it. I turned to look at him intensely while smiling. He was now smirking, amused and waited for me to talk.

"Come on, I know someplace that we should go," I said, standing up without waiting for a reaction from him. I didn't hear him stand up until I was at the door. I turned around to see him putting on his shoes, and I was surprised that he wasn't asking questions. I waited a few seconds for him to put on his black jacket and catch up. When he reached me at the door, he cupped my face in his hands and he kissed me slowly and softly and I reciprocated the kiss before pulling away and pulling him out the door by his hand. He sighed and when I turned my head to look at him, his head was down and I pulled his arm around my waist and he obliged and pulled me closer as we walked down to the diner.

We walked through and I felt someone watching us and I turned my head to see Lane watching us and I waved at her with the hand that was resting on Jess's back. She smiled at me and I turned back around and Jess and I walked out the door.

"So, where are we going exactly?" He asked as we headed for my house where my car was.

"We're going to my house so that we can get my car. I want to go to Hartford for a little while and I want you to come with me," I explained and he raised his eyebrow and moved his arm from my back to around my shoulders.

"Why are we going to Hartford?" He asked me a little bit later when we were nearing my house. I shrugged underneath the weight of his arm and I pushed the button to unlock my car once we reached the driveway.

"Can't you deal with a surprise, Jess?"

"I've never really liked surprises; well, except for that surprise I got last weekend from you," he said with a smirk and I pushed him away from me as I blushed and walked over to my car.

He walked up to me and I leaned against my car, still blushing and trying to act mad. He stood in between my legs and put his forehead to mine and smiled. "I'm just telling the truth," he said quietly and he kissed me and I subconsciously wrapped my arms around his neck and pushed myself of my car, leaning into him more so. We continued kissing until I remembered that we were supposed to be going somewhere.

When I pulled away from his grasp, I looked at him. "Get in the car, please," I said and he nodded and walked around to the passenger side and we both got in.

We drove to Hartford for a little under twenty minutes and when I drove by Chilton we both stared out the window at it, taking in the hugeness of it. Once it was barely behind us, I pulled into a small playground with swings, a slide, a zip slide, and different kinds of monkey bars and the ground was covered in wood chips. When I turned off the car and put the keys in my pocket, Jess looked at me with another raised eyebrow, but I ignored it and left him sitting in the car.

By the time I was sitting on one of the swings, he was walking through the gate surrounding the playground. He had his hands in his pockets and was slowly walking over to me. He walked behind me and held onto the chains that were holding up the swing. He pulled me back and I smiled as he pushed away my hair with his face and kissed my neck. I was just getting into it, when he pushed me in front of him.

He kept pushing me and I was smiling and enjoying the moment and the silence. Jess and I could spend hours together without talking and never feel uncomfortable. That thought always popped into my head whenever we would fight, because it would remind me of why I was so in love with him. We understood each other and we made each other happy, just by being there. Jess would never admit that in so many words, but when he stopped me on the swing and said, "I," and then pushed me again. When I came back, he stopped me again and whispered, "love," and pushed me again, and my stomach did cartwheels as I went forward, and then back as he stopped me again and whispered, barely audible, into my ear, "you."

He pushed again and I was afraid to turn around and face him. It was the first time he had actually said those words. I had only said it to him once and he said that he agreed, but those words _never _came out of his mouth. By the time I was at the peak of the last push he had given me, I jumped off and finally looked at him. He was smirking and I was staring blankly at him. We watched each other for a few more seconds, him never losing his smirk and I had a smile slowly developing on my face. We were at least six feet apart and a sharp wind passed between us and I almost fell over at it's intensity. I held my stance, though and started to walk towards Jess.

He walked around so that he was standing in front of the swing and now we were only a few feet from each other. Three words were spoken since we had gotten to the playground, all spoken by Jess and still hanging in the air by the time I had reached him and threw my arms around him and buried my face in his neck. I felt his arms encircle my body as he pulled me tighter into his body and kissed my shoulder while I had a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, and my jacket on. I pulled my face out of his neck and looked at him as he still smirked down at me, but it was slowly turning into a loving smirk, maybe even a smile.

"I love you too," I said quietly, my voice cracking. I looked at his mouth and I knew for sure that he was definitely smiling. I smiled, too, before leaning in and kissing him hard and long. He tightened his grip around me and kissed me back and I pushed to stand on my tippy-toes so that I could kiss him better, but we almost fell over. He steadied us again and throughout it all, our lips never detached.


	17. Good Night

**an: I haven't updated my other story in awhile, because I've been focusing all of my writing on this one, it seems to go smoother than _Forever You and Me_. I'd like to thank all of my readers for that. This is the nxt chapter, it's really just a fill until the next one which will include time at the Gilmores' house with Emily and Richard and... Jess. So, keep reading and reviewing and I'll keep updating. For anyone who reads _Forever You and Me_, I'll update soon. **

**diclaimer: ideamine. the actual people/shownot mine**

I was sitting at my desk, reading a small textbook, in Stars Hollow, the day before Thanksgiving. My mom had just left, claiming that she had some work to overlook at the inn. It would be done soon, and we were all waiting for opening day. I was incredibly into what I was reading until I heard a sharp rapping on my window, and I silently jumped. I looked over to see a smirking Jess and I let out a deep breath. After I pushed myself away from my desk, I opened my window.

"There are two doors that are made for knocking. Why are you using my window?" I asked him and he shook his head, apparently amused. I raised my eyebrows.

"I knocked on your door for ten minutes; the front and the back. Your shade was up, so I noticed you sitting at your desk and figured knocking on your window would be a more affective way of getting your attention," he explained and I nodded. "Could I possibly come inside? It's freezing out here."

"Yeah, go to the front door," I told him and he nodded before walking away from my window. I quickly shut it, he was right, it was way too cold for me. I walked to the front of the house and opened the door to see Jess leaning against the railing of the porch. He pushed himself off of the railing and walked towards me. He kissed me lightly on the lips and then I moved aside to let him in. "What's up?" I asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"Nothing. I just got off of work and I was wondering if you wanted to do anything," he explained and I nodded.

"You want some coffee?"

"Sure." I nodded and started making enough coffee for the both of us. "Were you busy?" He asked me and I turned around to face him as he sat down at the table.

"Not really. I was studying, but I have plenty of time to finish doing that." I sat down across from him and we waited in silence for the coffee machine to beep. As soon as it did, I stood up and poured us each a cup. "Here you go."

I sat next to him and I could feel him watching me as I blew into my cup to try and cool it down. I turned to look at him and he took a long sip from his cup and I did the same. "Will I see you at all tomorrow?" He suddenly asked me and I finished swallowing.

"Yeah, we'll hit Luke's around three and we aren't going to my grandparents' house. They're going elsewhere for Thanksgiving, but we'll see them Friday," I explained. I had told my grandfather that I'd call him on Friday morning to tell him whether or not Jess was coming; I hadn't even asked Jess.

"Oh, good," he said as he quickly drank the rest of his coffee and placed his cup on the table. I too drank some coffee and looked at him until I got his attention. "What?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"My grandfather _really _wants to meet you," I started and I heard him sigh, but decided to ignore it. "I think that it would be a good idea for you to come to Friday Night Dinner with me and my mom."

"Why do you think this is a good idea?" He asked as he sat back defensively.

"Well, I think that you'd really like my grandfather. Also, it would get it over with and for all we know, you'd never have to do it again. Plus, you told me that you would come to dinner again," I reminded him and he put his elbows on the table and his head in his palms with a loud sigh. "Jess, please."

"I'll go on Friday, but I will not do it happily," he told me and I slightly smiled.

"Thank you, so much. This time we'll go together so that neither of us are late."

"Fine," he said, finally picking his head up. "Where is your mom? It's kind of late."

"She's at the inn. She simply cannot stop working and she only left about twenty minutes ago, so she's going to be gone for awhile," I explained and he nodded. "I can't wait until the inn is done and she can finally relax."

"Yeah, she's been working nonstop since they started on it," he agreed and I nodded.

"At least she's got Sookie and Michel. She's not doing this by herself, she's got her friends in on it too. I would hate for her to do this alone."

"Yeah, but she'd never really do it alone, because no matter what, you know that you'd be there for her."

"You're right. I would be," I told him and he pulled me to sit on his lap.

"You're far too good a person to be with me," he whispered into my ear once I settled on his lap, facing him with my legs on either side of his body and the chair.

"I've never thought that, Jess. I'm not too good for you," I told him, looking into his eyes and resting my hands on his shoulders and then bringing them down to his chest. He put both hands on my lower back to keep me settled. "I don't want you to think that."

"I don't need to think about it, everybody already knows it, Rory. You are too good for me and you deserve a hell of a lot better than me," he told me, still speaking softly. I laid my head against his chest in frustration, and then looked back up at him.

"No I don't, because I don't want anyone other than you, so I don't deserve that. I deserve to get what I want in this situation, as selfish as that may sound, but it's true. I'm not going to break up with you anytime soon because I'm too good for you or because I could find better. I've found the only person that I want to be with right now, Jess," I explained to him as we watched each other closely. "I don't care that you wrecked my car and fractured my wrist, because it was just as much my fault as it was yours. I don't care that you went to New York without saying goodbye, because you came back. I don't care about what happened at Kyle's party, because you've apologized and made up for that and I forgave you. I don't care about anything you've done to hurt me, because we've moved on and we can't change the past. I know that we fight a lot and that we overreact over every single thing, but it gets resolved and I don't want to think about what would happen if it couldn't get resolved."

"I don't... want to think about it either," he admitted and I put a hand on each side of his neck, my thumbs resting on his cheek, and I kissed him sweetly. I moved my arms so that they were around his shoulders and he pulled me closer, deepening the kiss. I pulled away after a few moments and rested my forehead against his. All of a sudden, I yawned and Jess laughed. "Am I really that bad of a kisser?" He asked when I smiled shyly.

"Hardly; I'm just really tired," I explained. "My mom made me go grocery shopping really early this morning. She didn't think that our food selection was vast enough, so we went to Doose's and bought marshmallows and chips. Both of which are gone already."

"Okay," he laughed. "I'll leave and you can go to bed." I shook my head no and kissed him softly. "Then what do you suggest should happen?"

I smiled slightly before kissing him again and standing up in front of him. He followed my every move with his eyes . When I held my hand out to him, he took it and stood up slowly. As soon as he was standing, I kept hold of his hand, and walked us to my bedroom. I was walking backwards, so we watched each other until we were inside of my room.

He let go of my hand an closed the door and then stood in front of me, waiting for instruction of some sort. I walked closer to him, watching him watch me, and I slowly took off his jacket, sliding one arm out at a time. When I was finished, I turned my light off and walked back to him, before kissing him slowly. He pulled away from me and I could barely see his raised eyebrow in the dark. I reached toward his chest and and balled his long sleeved t-shirt in my fist and dragged him to my bed.

I got in and looked up at him with pleading eyes," Rory, I can't stay here with you," he said quietly as he sat on the edge of my bed.

"Why not?" I asked, just as quietly. I knew his reasoning behind it, but I wanted to fall asleep with Jess on purpose for once.

"I can't, because if your mother comes in here and finds me in bed with you, I'll be dead before sun rise," he explained, and I nodded sadly.

"Jess, she won't kill you; she'll just harbor a stronger hate for you," I told him, trying to keep the mood light, but his face stayed stone cold serious. "I'm sure that there are ways for me to persuade you," I said, whispering, as I lifted myself to my knees and leaned my chest against his back and my chin on his shoulder.

"Don't tempt me, Rory," he said and I kissed his neck as a response. I felt, more than heard, him sigh as he turned to face me. He took a hold of my shoulders and laid me down slowly as he kissed my neck. When I was lying flat, with him resting carefully on top of me, I captured his mouth with my own. He pulled his head back and rested it in the crook of my neck and whispered, "Fine, I'll stay, but if I suffer any bodily harm, all blame will lye on you."

I laughed quietly and pushed him off of me. "I'll take the blame," I agreed. He kissed my forehead as he kicked his shoes off and took his belt off. As soon as his belt was lying on the floor, next to my bed, he got under my covers with me and I hugged his torso and buried my face in his neck. "Good night."

"Good night, Ror," he whispered as he kissed the crown of my head. He put one arm around my body and kissed my head again before we drifted to sleep.

I woke up a little later to the sound of my door opening and the light shining from the kitchen. I let go of Jess and sat up to see my mother's expectant face. I rubbed my eyes and got out of bed lazily and quietly, so not to wake Jess. I walked by my mother, who had been watching me, and waited for her to close my door and sit at the table with me.

"Interesting night?" She asked, staring me down.

"Nothing happened. I just asked him to stay tonight. It was all innocent," I assured her and she nodded.

"As your mother, I shouldn't allow this," she said and I lifted my head to look at her in surprise. "But, it's not a big deal to me. You're both nineteen, you've had sex, and you're both fully clothed; I'll let it slide for tonight, but Ror, this can't happen often."

"I know, Mom. It wasn't something I planned, I forced him to stay with me. He was afraid that you would kill him," I informed her, and that definitely made her smile.

"I was tempted, but I didn't want you to be sad," she said and I too smiled. "I've been working all night, so I'm going to bed. Make sure he's gone before the paper reaches our porch, deal?"

"I promise. Good night, Mom."

"Good night, Sweetie," she said and I watched her walk through the house until she reached the stairs and walked up them. When I heard her door close, I walked back into my bedroom, I saw Jess lying awake quietly.

"What was that about?" He asked as I closed my door and walked over to my bed to lay back down.

"She wants you gone before the paper hits the porch," I informed him and he nodded as he put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me so that my head was lying on his shoulder.

"Okay," he said, voice tired and strained. I put my arm under his t-shirt, across his stomach, and he pulled the blankets up to our necks. I kissed the side of his chest and settled into a sound sleep.


	18. Welcome to Hell

**an: Yes, I suck. Yes, I'll understand if you hate me. I need to get on top of this whole writing/updating thing. School sucks and takesup far too much time, if you ask my opinion, so that is where I amd lying all of the blame. I work on this as much as I can and get as much of it done as I can and it's coming out like crap and I hope that you enjoy it to, at least, some level, because you deserve it. Everybody who reads my stories and this ridiculously long author's not deserves something far more superior than what I happen to be writing. So, I'll also understand if I get a small amount of reviews, because I deserve it. But, please Read and enjoy to the best of your ability and Ill do my best to update as soon as I can.**

**Diclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls, all I own is the idea/dream that this story came from. **

I was putting on shoes, getting ready to go to my grandparents' with my mom and Jess. My mom was in the living room, finishing up her make-up in the hall mirror when I heard someone knocking on the front door. "Mom, could you get that? I need to finish getting ready," I called to my mom and I heard her put down her make-up.

"Sure, Sweets," she called back and opened the door. "Hey, Jess. She's in her room, you can go in there," I heard her say, not as loudly.

"Thanks," Jess said as he got closer to my room.

My door was slightly open, so when he pushed it the rest of the way, I looked up from my spot at the end of my bed. "Hi."

"Hey," he said casually, subconsciously rubbing a piece of lint of off his shirt. I finished with my shoe and walked over to my mirror.

"You look nice," I told him as I checked him out, looking at his reflection in my mirror.

"Well, you did pick out what you wanted me to wear," he reminds me with a sarcastic smirk which made me smile. I flatten out the front of my dress and spray perfume on as a finishing touch.

"Then I did pretty damn good," I say and then turn around to face him. He reaches for my waist and pulls me closer to him before kissing me. While still kissing Jess, I step closer to him and have the urge to ball his shirt in my fists, but it would make a bad impression if he went to dinner with a wrinkled shirt, so I laid my hands flat on his chest instead. I pushed him away lightly to stop the kiss, because I didn't want us to be late, and I knew that he didn't want to be either.

"I guess that means that we need to go," he stated and I nodded sadly at him. I kissed his cheek and patted his chest before walking around him and into the living room where my mom was waiting for us. I heard him sigh and saw him as he walked next to me when I found my mom still in front of the mirror.

"You ready, Mom?" I asked her and she looked at Jess with an evil smile and I nodded my head in amused disapproval.

"I'm extremely ready, but is our friend, Jess, here ready?" She asked and Jess sighed again and I took his hand.

"Don't listen to her," I assured him. "It won't be that bad."

"Yes, it will," he said, squeezing my hand. "I guess that we should go then; get this over with."

"Okay. Are we all going together, or are you two going in your car?" Mom asked me and I shrugged and looked to Jess for an opinion, but he was fixated with his shoes at the moment.

"We'll go in my car, I guess. We'll be there at the same time, though, so please don't make any detours at Luke's or work, okay?"

"Fine, I'll follow you there. I will not stop anywhere other than my parents' house," she agreed and I nodded. I kissed her cheek and pulled Jess out of the house to my car. I heard Mom close the door to the house as I got to my car and I waved at her before climbing in with Jess.

We drove away and I felt nervous; not for me at all, just for Jess and the way that my grandfather would react to him. Nothing that my grandparents would say would make me love Jess any less or make me even think about breaking up with him, but I hate when anyone is disappointed me, especially my grandparents. Jess was staring out the window nervously, not that he would ever admit that, but I could tell from his facial expression. We stopped at a red light, and I looked in my rear view mirror to see if my mother was still behind us, and sure enough she was staring up at the light, bobbing her head to the music. I laughed quietly, and looked back to the road in front of me.

"Hey, do you want some advice on what to do and how to act?" I asked him and he looked at me closely before shrugging. I watched the light turn green and drove forward, getting closer and closer to the Gilmore house.

"Do you think that it would help at all?" He asked and I thought about it for a second.

"I think that if you want to get this over with, the best thing to do is stay on their good side," I explained and he nodded as he understood what I was saying.

"Your grandmother already hates me, so I already lose."

"See, tonight isn't about my grandmother, it's about my grandfather. I think that you two will get along. It might take all night, but I think he'll like you; at least a little bit."

"You know that I don't really care what they think of me. Plenty of people that you care about hate me; your mom, Lane, Dean, your grandmother. It really doesn't bother me."

"Yeah, I know, Jess. Just try, please," I said, ready to end the conversation without giving him any advice at all. As soon as I turned off of the main road and onto a side road, I heard Jess sigh, and I knew that he wanted to be anywhere than where he was headed. "By the way," I started and he looked at me, waiting for me to continue. "Thanks for coming tonight, it _does _mean a lot to me."

"I know. That's why I'm here, not for your grandparents, for you," he said softly, and as I watched the road in front of me, I smiled. He ran a hand through his hair, it was getting pretty long, I can't remember the last time the he got it cut, it looked good, it made him look older.

I saw the open gate leading to the Gilmore household, and drove through it, letting out a deep breath. Jess and I unbuckled our seat belts as soon as my car was off. I put my keys in my coat pocket and looked to Jess. He looked at me before leaning over and cupping my face with his hands and kissing me softly. He stroked his thumbs against my cheeks and broke away from the kiss after sucking lightly on my bottom lip as if he was savoring the kiss until he had the chance to do it again. I smiled at him and watched his eyes as we rested our foreheads together for a second or two before I kissed him again and pulled away. He let go of me as soon as my mother's headlights shone into my car.

"Dun dun dun," Jess whispered as we opened our doors. I laughed quietly and gently slammed the door shut. Jess was already leaning against the hood of my car taking in the vastness of my grandparents' house. I waited for Mom to get out of her car.

"Hey," I said as she took my elbow and guided me towards Jess. He pushed himself off of my car and reached for my hand. I took it and pulled him closer to my side as the three of us walked to the door in silence. Jess and I stood back as Mom took the lead and rang the doorbell. She turned back to look at us and smiled and I turned to Jess, who was still extremely interested in his shoes. My mom turned towards the door as it was opened by my grandmother. She was wearing a fake smile and I elbowed Jess who looked towards her.

"Well, hello everybody. Come in, come in, it's cold out here," Grandma said as she stepped aside and waited for us to pass her. The three of us took our jackets off and handed them to the maid that was waiting near by.

"Hi, Grandma," I said as I gave her a hug.

"Hi, Rory. Hello, Jess," she said and Jess turned her attention to her and gave her a sideways smile.

"Hi, Mrs. Gilmore, how are you?" He asked and I smiled at his politeness and when I looked at Mom, she looked as though she were about to explode with laughter, but my serious look, made her stop.

"I'm fine, and how are you?" She asked, her voice cold. I looked at her and her face softened.

"I'm doing well," Jess said and Grandma nodded and smiled.

"Great, now can we go sit in the sitting room, I've been on my feet all day," Mom cut in and Grandma let out an annoyed sigh, but ushered us in to the sitting room. "Where's Dad?" Mom asked once the three of us were sitting on the sofa, across from Grandma.

"He's in his study with Jason. He'll be out here in a minute, and Jason should be leaving; unless, of course, your father invites him to eat with us again. I swear, that boy never goes home," Grandma complained and my mother and I smiled.

"Mom, should I get the drinks for everybody?" Mom asked, waiting very impatiently for her martini.

"No, Lorelai, that is completely unnecessary. I will get the drinks for everyone, don't strain yourself now," Grandma teased and I cracked a smile and Jess nodded beside me. "I would hate to have you in a restaurant I might be working in," she said, probably towards Jess and I sat back in my seat, hoping that she would stop after the remark and not speak down to him or about him.

"Luke and I are used to it. After waiting on her for two or three years, you learn to deal with it," Jess said from his seat. Grandma nodded and looked towards the entranceway to the sitting room to see Grandpa and Jason walking in from the study. I took a deep breath and stood up, patting Jess's leg in the process to get him up also. Mom smiled at him and then turned towards Jason with no expression at all before being handed her martini from my grandmother.

"Hi Grandpa," I said, giving him a hug. "Hi, Jason," I said with a smile once I was standing next to Jess again. Jason smiled and nodded at me. "Grandpa, Jason, this is my boyfriend, Jess."

"It's nice to meet you, Jess," Grandpa said as he extended his hand. Jess let out a breath and shook his hand, with his crooked smile.

"It's nice to meet you, too," Jess replied once he had taken his hand back.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Jess, and to see you again, Rory, Lorelai, and Emily, but I should really be going; I hate intruding on your evenings," Jason told us all and Mom scoffed quietly from her seat, earning her two disapproving looks from my grandparents and three amused looks from Jason, myself, and Jess.

"Sorry," she said quietly. Jess and I turned back to where my grandfather was standing with Jason. My grandfather then turned to Jason.

"Nonsense, boy. You should stay for dinner. This way the men and women will balance out, which it never does. So, would you like to stay?" He asked and I could see Mom, from the corner of my vision, lie back in her seat.

"If you're sure," Jason answered, more to Grandma than Grandpa.

"Well, we do have another guest tonight, so you'll have to sit next to Lorelai," she answered before turning to sit down. I knew that Jason would agree to stay, so I felt no need to stand and wait for him to answer, so I took Jess's hand and we took our seats back on the couch next to Mom.

"I'd love to stay, then," Jason answered, taking a seat in the chair in front of the fireplace. I noticed Grandma and Grandpa exchange looks and then turn to sit with there ever famous fake smiles and I braced myself for whatever my grandfather would ask Jess, knowing the way he had bombarded Dean the first time they had met.

I watched my grandfather talk to Jason with ease and my grandmother and Mom drink and listen with the same ease. I wondered why no one was interested in Jess's company, especially Grandpa. I took a drink of my soda and turned to look at Jess, sitting next to me. He was searching the room with his eyes; looking at pictures, the drink cart, small figurines gracing the mantle. His eyes landed on mine and he smirked before finding my hand and idly playing with my fingers as he continued with his search. Mom nudged me with her shoulder and I looked to her for an explanation. She questioned me with her eyes and I answered with a shrug, knowing that we were both confused and wondering what was up.

"Oh my," Grandma stated, quite loudly; causing everyone to stop talking and foccus all attention on her.

"What is it, Emily?" Grandpa asked, following her gaze to the outside where the snow had began falling forcefully. "Well, 'Oh my' is right. It's miserable out there."

"It just started, also. It was barely flaking outside when we got here," I told them and I could see the familiar 'snow smile' of Lorelai Gilmore. "Mom, I thought that you could smell snow. Why didn't you warn us about this?" I asked incredulously.

"Hon, this is a sneak attack that neither I, nor Kreskin, could have ever smelled coming. It's best when it's this way, though," she answered with a thoughtful look in her features.

"It's going to be so icy out there," Jess threw out into the open, and with that Grandma had all the ammunition that she needed to trap us in Hartford and in the elder Gilmore house for the night.

"It most definitely will be, which is why you are all staying for dinner and breakfast. _No _excuses," she said and Mom threw a balled up napkin at Jess, before dropping her head in her hands.


	19. Love is in the Air

**AN: I love you all and I'm so sorry that I suck! Read Review and ENJOY**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls, I own only this and my other stories. **

"My mother hates you," I told Jess as I showed him to the bedroom he was being forced to sleep in.

"I didn't know that your grandmother would force us to stay the night. I didn't think anyone was that crazy," he said as I stopped in front of my bedroom door. "Are we going inside?"

"I want you to know that you will be sleeping in my bedroom. I also want you to know that I had absolutely no say in the designing aspect of it, so, please, ignore the posters and the magazines in there, okay?"

"Fine," he answered, reaching around me to open the door. I backed into the room and flipped on the light and the NSYNC and 98° posters stuck out in my mind immediately. I turned to watch Jess survey his surroundings before he focused his attention on me, smirking. "This almost makes up for the fact that I actually have to stay here tonight." He closed the door behind him and I shook my head.

"That's not ignoring them, Jess. That is the opposite of ignoring, in fact," I pout and he walked closer to me and planted a soft kiss on my forehead before wandering towards the bathroom attached to the bedroom. He peeked his head in and walked over to sit on the bed.

"Where are you sleeping tonight?" He asked and I turn my attention back to him. "I mean, if I'm occupying your bedroom, I'm sure that it would be unheard of if you stayed here also. So, where are you going to sleep?"

"I'm sleeping in my mom's room with her, but we'll probably end up watching TV on the huge television downstairs all night. You're more than welcome to join us," I said, extending an invitation, hoping that he'd say yes.

"Maybe, but I assume that you won't be doing this until your grandparents are completely asleep?"

"You'd most definitely be correct. They want us in bed now, like we're ten. We'll probably head down at eleven, so I can come get you if you want me to," I told him and he nodded. He walked over to me and cupped my face in his hands, kissing me tenderly. I put a hand to his neck and pulled myself closer to him, kissing him back and tangling my fingers in his hair. I backed away from him for a second, breaking the kiss. "You know, the only reason I took my car," I began to tell him as I walked back, closer to him. "Is because I wanted us to go to Yale after dinner. Had we gone to Yale, we would have had the entire dorm all to ourselves." By the time I had finished the sentence, I was leaning on him, whispering closely to his ear. He clutched at my waist and sighed into my neck.

"That's not fair," he whined, still holding onto me. I placed a chaste kiss below his ear. And hugged his upper body.

"I'm just telling you the facts. We could be in another one of my bedrooms right now where no one would even be aware of our existence."

"I hate you," he told me, before lying his forehead on my shoulder.

"No, you don't. That's why you're taking this so hard," I reminded him and he let out another sigh. "I should go. I'll see you at eleven." He kissed my neck in response and I captured his mouth with my own after he pulled back. He pulled me tighter and then let go and we detached our lips. I smiled and left the room, headed towards my mother's room.

I opened her door and found her looking through some of her old pictures. She turned to look at me when I closed the door. "Hey, Honey. How's your extremely stupid boyfriend?" She asked me and I smiled before lying on her bed.

"He's feeling completely stupid and he wants to go home," I told her and she nodded. She put away the pictures into the desk drawer and joined me on the bed. "I'm sorry about this, by the way."

"Babe, it's not your fault and I know it's not Jess's fault either. I know he felt pressured to make conversation and he said all that he could and it got us stuck here. I'm just mad that we're here and that Jason is two point three feet away from me. I don't feel safe," she complained and I laughed quietly.

"Mom, don't be immature." I told her and she puffed from beside me. I looked at the clock on her wall and noticed that we still had an hour until it was safe to go downstairs. I turned my attention to the window and watched the snow fall and I was wondering why my mother wasn't coming up with anything good to say, after all snow was her favorite thing about winter and, basically, the rest of the world.

"Hon, I think that I have feelings for Luke," she said quietly and I stopped breathing for a second before slowly turning to look at her. She was looking at her feet that were resting on the bed. "Say something, Rory."

"Luke? As in _Luke?_" I asked her and she nodded. I smiled slightly. "How did this happen?"

"I don't know. I think I noticed it a few nights ago. You and Jess were out and so I went to the diner for dinner and it was just me and Luke and I realized that I have these feelings that have been there for so long. I'm afraid to admit it, but I needed to tell someone and you're my most important someone. I want to know what you think," she finally ended her rant and I laid my head on her shoulder and hugged her from the side.

"I think that it's taken long enough for you to realize this," I began and lifted my head from her shoulder as she turned to look at me, confused. "Everyone can tell that Luke has always had a thing for you, but only people close enough to you know that you've had a thing for him."

"Okay, so who are we talking about? Like, who's always known?"

"Me, Sookie, Grandma and I'm sure that there's a few others out there, too. I'm happy for you, that you've realized and accepted it. But what's going to happen now? Are you going to tell him?"

"I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet. I don't even know if I want to do anything. I'm so confused, Rory and I'm afraid. Luke is my friend, you know, he's always been my friend and I don't want to lose that," she told me and I nodded in understanding. It would suck if they ever broke up and had to skirt around each other. Stars Hollow isn't the easiest place to do that; I know, I did that with Dean.

"Believe me, Mom, I get that. You can't bury your feelings, though," I told her and she nodded. I knew that by experience also, for months I had to hide my feelings for Jess. There seemed to be a lot of parallels between my relationship with Jess and Mom's relationship with Luke.

"I'm afraid of this," she admitted to me and I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

"Mom, you have no reason to be afraid. Do what you want, but I think that you should tell him," I told her and she nodded again, looking as though she were contemplating what to do.

"We'll see what happens," she said with a thoughtful look on her face.

"We'll see," I repeated and she patted my knee as a response. "I think I"m going to take Jess into Grandpa's study. So you think it's too early?"

"No, probably not. Just be quiet on your way down. I'll be down there at eleven. Meet you in the TV room?"

"Of course."

"Don't say anything to Jess about what we talked about, okay?"

"Don't worry, Mom. It's between us, but hopefully not for long, okay? I love you and I'll see you downstairs in a little while." She nodded and kissed my cheek. I smiled before jumping off of the bed and leaving her room quietly. After I shut her door, I leaned against the wall and took in everything she had just told me. She and Luke were meant for each other, I knew it from the time I was at least sixteen. Everyone could see their spark for each other, but they had always been blind to it. I didn't want my mom to hide this from him any longer and I hoped, so badly, that he would reciprocate the same feelings back to her, because they both deserved it.

I pushed myself off of the wall and began walking toward my bedroom and I spotted Jason walk out of the guest room. "Hi, Rory. Where you headed to?" He asked me as we both stopped.

"I'm going to get Jess and then we're going to check out some of the books in Grandpa's study. What about you?" I asked.

"I'm just headed to the bathroom before going to sleep. It's a crazy night, I never thought that I'd ever have to stay here over night," he told me and I nodded smiling.

"I'm sorry about that, by the way, but you'll definitely be guaranteed an awesome breakfast before heading out tomorrow morning," I reminded him and he smiled.

"Every cloud does have a silver lining," he told me.

"That's true. I'll see you then, I should get to Jess," I told him and he nodded.

"He's a good kid. I'll see you in the morning," he said and then walked towards the bathroom. I smiled and thought that if Jason thought Jess was a good kid, then maybe Grandpa thought the same thing.

I continued walking towards Jess's room and opened the door as soon as I arrived. He was sitting on the bed and turned to look at me when he heard the door open. I sat next to him and took his hand in my own. "Want to go check out some books with me in Grandpa's study before we watch TV?" I asked him and he shrugged.

"Now? Isn't it too early?" He asked as he looked at the clock on the bedside table.

"They're probably already sleeping, we'll meet my mom in the TV room at eleven. If you want to come, that is."

"Does he have a good collection?"

"Outside of the Yale library, which I've never brought you to, it's the best collection I've ever seen."

"You're holding out on me, then," he joked and I cracked a smile, pulling him over to me and kissing him. "I'll let it slide," he deadpanned and I laughed, pushing him back to his side of the bed.

"Do you want to come, or not?" I asked him and he nodded and we both stood up from the bed. "Okay, we need to stay quiet until we get downstairs, so that no one hears us, alright?"

"I can be good," he tried to convince me, but I just silently laughed and pulled him to the door. We inched quietly out of the room and walked quietly to the stairs. I was being very light on my feet and when I turned around to see Jess, he was walking normally and I realized that he was a surprisingly quiet walker. I threw a smile his way and he smirked, catching up to me and pulling me close to him by grabbing my waist. We finished our trek down the hall and began our journey down the stairs. We made it down and into the study no problem, no run ins and it was most definitely a success.

As soon as I closed the door Jess was searching for something remarkable on the shelves that held the treasures that were my grandfather's books. I surprisingly wasn't in the reading mood, so I sat in one of the leather armchairs located towards the center of the room and watched him browse. He drifted in one area for longer than usual, something clearly catching his attention. I smiled at his willingness as he whipped the book off of the shelf and opened it ever so carefully. He skimmed the first few lines with a knowing smile before blindly looking for chair. I moved my feet out of the way to make sure he didn't trip, and watched as he sat across from me.

I kicked his toe playfully and he looked up at me, smiling. He beckoned me over to him with a nod of his head and I willingly stood up and watched as he made room for me on his lap. I sat down carefully and laid my head on his shoulder. From the position that I was in, I could see clearly what he was reading again. An early edition of _The Sun Also Rises_. The second I had seen his face I figured it was Hemingway. Despite the fact that I hate Hemingway, I had to smile at his almost giddiness over a book he had probably read over a hundred times.

I glanced at the clock and saw we had a half hour before I had to meet Mom in the TV room. Jess was silently reading and rubbing the side of my stomach at the same time, he was a true multi-tasker. I was tired, exhausted; I wasn't sure if I'd make it through the night. I wasn't sure if any of us would make it through the night. I would have rather been anywhere than my grandparents' house; we were only supposed to be there a couple of hours, not an entire night.

"So," Jess started, my thoughts brought back to him. "I talked to my mom the other day."

"Really? What did you guys talk about?" I asked him, settling into his lap more so, getting comfortable and looking at him, face to face. "Anything interesting?"

"I'd say so," he began to tell me as I listened intently; it was rare that he ever spoke about his mother. "She told me that she's thinking about getting married. Her boyfriend hasn't asked her or anything, but she said that she 'has an itch.'"

"That's exciting. Why the sudden urge, though?"

"I don't know. She also said that she wants to get married in Stars Hollow when the time is right. It should be some kind of party," he explained and I smiled.

"You never know, it could be fun. We can go together and I'll distract you. I can be very good at distracting you, you know."

"Oh, believe me, I know." He kissed my cheek and I kissed his. We were happy, surprisingly we were happy in my grandparents' house. Jess and I were living in the moment and we never looked too far in the future, afraid it would jinx us; at least that's the way that I looked at things. He was happy around me and he was still an asshole to everyone that didn't matter to him. I was happy with him, but after spending a week or so in Stars Hollow, I was somewhat afraid to go back only seeing him, an everyone else for that matter, only on weekends.

I laid my head on his shoulder and watched as he went back to reading and rubbing the side of my stomach. His hands felt smooth on my shirt, but I knew that if I were to grab them at that moment, or any moment, they'd be callused and chapped. I respected that about him, he wasn't perfect at all and I had always been looked at as perfect. We really complimented each other in my mind. I don't know how he viewed us, but I never cared as long as he loved me and took care of my heart the second time around.

I heard my mother's steps coming down the stair and I glanced at the clock, noticing that it was a few minutes past eleven. I waited for her to enter the study and she smiled when she saw Jess and me. She nodded her head for us too follow her and I nodded. She closed the door and Jess finally stopped reading. We got up together and he put the book back where he had found it and met me in front of the door. I put one arm around his neck and rested the other hand on his chest, kissing him deeply and he obliged by kissing me back before opening the door for us and following me into the TV room.


End file.
